Cry, Mercy, Cry
by Chitose Fama
Summary: Simon, Kamina, and Yoko travel to the town of Cascade in search of information about the beastmen, but what greets them along the icy streets is a truth as painful and as humbling as death itself.
1. The Soul Is In The Eyes

********Hello everyone, welcome to my third fan fiction ever, this time based on the wonderful anime Gurren Laggan. Seeing how A Voice So Loud failed, I've been tuning up my writing style, as well as my fan fiction style, and I hope the results are pleasing.

As always, there will be illustrations to go along with this story, and they will always be posted on my profile. Check back every few weeks for any up dates. I'll try to post as often as I can. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and take the opportunity to visit my bank of illustrations while you're here.

See ya soon, and happy reading!********

**-Update: Chapter One Illustration posted-**

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Chapter One

**The Soul is in The Eyes**

The monsters slumbered in the cold, brooding and abiding in the dark as they rested amidst stagnate chaos. Tears on the walls told vicious stories. The dried blood on their fangs whispered tales of horror. But they were not alone. A breeze of addictive fear swept the stone walls. A presence scorched with iniquity far deeper than theirs had entered the resting place.

The beasts' curled claws quivered, and their sun-spotted eyes rolled when he approached. Their punctured hearts shuddered as he spoke to them, slipping poisonous joy into their tar-like blood.

"A taste…a taste is all you were given," the voice sang its ghastly song. A sharpened grin cut across a tortured face as a weeping laugh echoed in the chamber. "Ah, it was only a morsel. You merely sampled the sweet flesh of that one. He escaped, yes, but I will force him to return. Be patient, yet prepare yourselves. Soon you will have your fill of a broken heart."

Slowly the monsters swelled in reverent anticipation. As they settled, their dreams were pierced with groans of longing, clutching to the hope that their wait was nearing its end.

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The first thing Simon noticed about Cascade was that the sprawling town seemed to function best in bone-numbing cold. Wrapping his jacket closely around his pale chest, he watched as dozens of lively citizens scuttled around the ice-slick streets, going about their business in ordinary fashion. It seemed they were oblivious to the deathly temperatures, or perhaps they didn't mind the chill. It sure was a change of pace for Simon, now that he had spent so much time on the sunny side of the surface world.

Behind him a sneeze erupted in the quiet air, and was followed by a string of curses and moody grumblings.

"Damn." Simon turned and eyed a tall, thin youth huddled in a shaft of pale sunlight a few feet away. The boy smiled innocently to himself, smothering a giggle as his older friend rubbed his pink-tipped nose and frowned. "I'm about to turn into a man-cicle," he objected noisily. "Haven't these people ever heard of fire? Or warmth? Who would actually choose to live in a place like this?"

A girl's wail directly followed this comment, and a moment later the girl herself waddled up the road a few feet behind the boys. She clutched her arms at the elbows, and walked slowly and hunched over like a crippled beggar. "Y-y-you c-c-can't complain, K-K-Kamina!" she protested. Her pure white teeth clapped together rapidly as she scowled. "A-at least y-y-you have a ca-ca-cape! Look at m-m-m-me; even my rifle is getting f-f-f-frostbite!"

Simon blushed as the girl wagged herself back and forth, as if she hoped to shake off the unforgiving cold. Kamina huffed and jerked his chin up. "It's not my fault you go hopping around half naked all the time. And don't give me that speech about clothes that 'restrict your movement' either. All you pit chicks are loose in the brain as far as I'm concerned."

Ignoring the other man's grumpy retort, Simon shed his own jacket and offered it to his feminine friend. "Here, Yoko. You can wear mine," he said.

"Oh, but Simon won't you be cold now?" she wondered, but accepted the covering without pause.

He smiled shyly at her. "No, I'll be alright."

Kamina favored the small boy with a hearty slap on the back. "Atta boy Simon! Embrace your environment! The biting cold will give power to your heart and manly strength to your bones!"

Simon noticed that, despite his energetic speech, Kamina kept his own cloak draped securely around his shoulders. The boy shook his head and decided not to make any sharp remarks.

The day wore on in the shadow of frosty winds and minimal temperatures. The group wandered from building to building, seeking shelter and restoration in the warmth between the stone walls of shops, small cafes and even homes. Fortunately the townspeople had personalities in contrast to their frigid home, and welcomed the strangers as openly as parents would their children.

One woman, large and round as a seal, was especially talkative and even managed to overwhelm Kamina's unfastened tongue.

"Well dears, it sure is a treat seeing new faces in town, I'll tell you," she babbled, forcing brimming mugs of coco on each of her guests. "We don't get too many visitors out here in Cascade, not the friendly kind at least. My husband works the scoot carts, and he has oodles of stories about the beastmen who wander in here every now and then. It's the worst part of opening the town to the surface: those foul monsters pass through every couple of weeks. They don't mind the cold, with all the fur some of them have. Once I was down on the market, talking to one of my lady friends and…"

Yoko interrupted as politely as she could in order to ask, "Why do you think the beastmen are coming around so often? They're not attacking you are they?"

The woman shook her head. "Not usually, dear. They make threats, but for now they're much more interested in Paradise. That's the only thing they talk about when they come down to the city."

"_Paradise?"_ Kamina repeated, suddenly perking up out of his crabby mood. "What would that be?"

Simon had barely been listening for the majority of the discussion, allowing his idle gaze to admire the glittering blue streets of the submerged town while his friends talked. All of the tunnels leading to the surface were engraved with intricate, artistic designs, as were the actual roads and walls outside. He had been wondering at the imaginative nature of the people of Cascade when the woman mentioned something called _Paradise._ Just like his older friend, Simon had instantly snapped to attention.

"Well actually it's a place," the woman explained. "Most of us have only glimpsed it from afar, but there are stories…if the night is clear enough, you can actually see it from the observation platforms above ground. Way off in the distance you can just spot a mountain shaped like an hour-glass with a beautiful garden on top. That's Paradise, as the locals call it. Rumors say it's the grandest, most wonderful place on the face of the earth." She laughed softly and shrugged her round shoulders. "I'd like to believe it, but I do have to wonder how much we pit-dwellers know about the face of the earth, after all."

"You can say that again, lady," Kamina grumbled. Yoko slapped his head reproachfully while Simon sipped his coco and tried to look harmless.

"What do you think the beastmen want with a place like Paradise?" Yoko pressed.

Shrugging again, the woman admitted that such facts were unknown to anyone in the town. "I can tell you what we want with the place," she went on. "As you've noticed, it's powerfully cold down here in Cascade. Only certain types of plants and animals can survive here, which means that we are often short on food. When winter rolls around there's almost always news of deaths swinging through the lines. Starvation hits us hard around here, but like I told you before: Paradise is as lush as a god's garden. If we could get there, just imagine the wealth of food we would have!"

Yoko sighed, though her bright eyes held an unpredictable inner glow. "I don't think the beastmen are all that interested in food…so there must be something else about that place. Maybe a power source, or even some abandoned gunmen."

"You don't say…" Kamina murmured to himself. A leisurely smile pulled on the corners of his lips, and he cast Simon a dubious glance. "Sounds real interesting, doesn't it, bro?"

Simon nodded eagerly. He tipped his mug of steaming coco toward his mouth at the very moment Kamina pushed his shoulder playfully, and nearly spilled the drink down his chest. His brother didn't seem to notice the mistake, and went on talking to the woman in earnest.

"So, is there anyone we can talk to who could tell us more about this Paradise place?" he wanted to know.

The woman's face darkened suddenly, the welcoming light in her eyes becoming unexpectedly overcast all at once. "Well…" she hesitated, falling completely silent for the first time during the conversation. "There is one person who has actually been there. His name is Linus, but I couldn't sleep tonight if I knew that I led you three dears to that vile wretch."

The venom in her words shocked the three friends, and they all stared at the woman in dumb silence as she spoke. Even Kamina was too stunned to comment.

"Now, I know you youngsters are interested in Paradise," she continued sternly, "but do yourselves a favor and avoid any word or sign of …_him…_while you're here. Don't even speak his name, if you can help it. We've been trying to jail that monstrous traitor for well over a year now, but unfortunately he's still running free. Don't let him near you, or your little friend there, if you know what's best for you."

Kamina and Yoko threw simultaneous worried looks toward Simon, as if they expected an attack at that very moment. Simon squeezed his mug and shrank into himself, trying to keep the fear off his face.

"What's so bad about this guy?" Yoko asked softly. "Did he…kill someone?"

"No, sweetheart, he did something much worse than that." The woman's plump face was gaunt now. All the wrinkles that had been unnoticeable before had become deep and lucid from repressed hatred. "They say the soul is in the eyes. If you were so unfortunate to catch that traitor's glance, you would see nothing but a cursed black pit, viler than death itself."


	2. You! Scum!

******** Alright, here's chapter two then. I just watched some older episodes of Gurren Lagann today with my friend (she's never seen it! O.O ) so I was reminded why I love this anime so much. I haven't really got much to say, since there is no illustration for this chaper (sorry...). I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Til next time. See ya soon!********

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**Chapter Two**

**You! Scum!**

Back on the streets, where the shadows seemed to have grown in unnerving bounds, the trio leisurely continued their exploration of frigid Cascade. Simon was allowed to trail behind, while Kamina and Yoko held their own, debatably private conversation a few yards away.

"I think we should go after this…_Linus_ character," Yoko suggested in a whisper. "If we want to know more about Paradise, we would be stupid to overlook someone who's actually been there."

Kamina squinted thoughtfully, but seemed uninterested in her idea. "What do we need to know anyhow? Nothing! I say we just head straight for the place right now! No hesitation, just charge right in and crush the problems when they dare to show up!"

"Maybe _you_ don't mind being reckless, but some of us actually plan on living into retirement." The girl shook her head and crossed her arms. "And what about Simon? You may be stupid enough to think you can handle any situation, but do you ever worry that you're putting his life in danger with your fanatical plans?"

"Simon can handle himself just fine," Kamina retorted. "He's a man, 'kay? Part of Team Gurren! He just needs a little kick in the backside to get going sometimes. Has there ever been a time when things didn't work out in the end? No, there hasn't, so you can just cool it hippo-hips."

Yoko glared at her friend, obviously not reciprocating his confidence. "Do what you want, then. You can go charging into unknown territory if you want to, but I'm going to find out what I can first. And Simon stays with me. If you're going out there, you go alone."

Now Kamina was the one scowling. His eyes sparked red in the failing sunlight, but he offered no more words on the subject. Instead he asked where Yoko would begin her all important search for the illusive Linus.

"Probably at the local pubs," she answered. "That's always the best place to start tracking someone. Though, I think that maybe you and I should be the ones to do the investigating."

"What's Simon gonna do?"

Yoko licked her lips. "I really think he should sit this one out. Now wait, you heard what that woman said about this guy," she continued hurriedly, trying to cut off Kamina's objection to leaving their youngest friend behind. "You heard what she said, Linus has done things worse than murder! He could be a kidnapper, or a rapist who goes after innocent kids for all we know!"

"A rapist?" Kamina growled. "I'll kick his ass if he-"

"Exactly! You really want to get Simon involved in that?" She watched him for a moment, making sure he understood. "Think about his safety for once, Kamina. I know you have a lot of faith in him, but you need to do your part to _protect_ him too. He is only a kid, after all. There are some things he should just...stay away from."

For a few heartbeats Yoko thought he would argue again. But then Kamina's concrete pride relaxed for a moment and he relented with a gruff sigh.

During all of this Simon had been trotting along in his own world, entirely oblivious to what his friends were saying about him. He walked slowly, his fingers absently playing with the small drill around his neck as he took time to appreciate the architecture of the town. Having been a tunnel digger himself, he knew a thing or two about carving earth. It seemed that the people of Cascade knew even more; their system of tunnels was not only efficient, but they actually seemed to be artistically planned.

It was while he was ogling a tunnel entrance decorated with ice sculptures that Simon saw something else that instantly fascinated him.

In the shade of a crumbling wall, crouching by a drift of snow like a hungry dog, was a young boy. His hair was only a shade duller than the golden sunlight he seemed to be hiding from, and his child-like eyes were wide as the sky as he returned Simon's stare. There was something bizarre in that unflinching gaze, something strange and yet potent in its importance.

"What…" Simon breathed, halting where he was, "…do you want to say?"

The boy didn't answer. He was seated across the street, too far to have heard the question, but still he seemed expectant somehow. As Simon watched, a flicker of movement twitched on the strange child's lips. A sliver of motion; no more than a shrug of the mouth, but Simon was hung on it like a fish on a hook.

"Hey! Stand at attention soldier!" Kamina's shout manhandled Simon's focus forward so abruptly that his mind nearly got whiplash.

"Gah! What is it?" he yelped.

Kamina laughed. "You better be staring at some fine piece of lady, Simon. No other reason you shouldn't be concentrating 1000 percent on your leader!"

"Kamina!" Yoko screeched. "Why are you such a creep?"

He flashed his teeth at her in warning. "I've got it all figured out, alright? Can't you let me talk to my own baby brother in peace?"

Yoko huffed to herself as she turned away, gripping her rifle with discomforting tension. "Whatever, I'm going ahead."

"Pit-chicks! I swear," he muttered.

Simon stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking innocent as he asked, "Where are we going now?"

"Actually bro, me and balloon-boobs over there are pulling a duo this time." Kamina tried not to bite his tongue, witnessing the confusion he had been expecting set in. "But, I don't want you sitting around doing nothing. Nobody on Team Gurren gets to be lazy, so go find a way to showcase your everlasting spirit to this dry-bone town! Wake these people up with the brilliance of your manhood, ya got it?"

"But," Simon choked, "I-I don't think—"

Kamina cut in, disregarding any protests. "Just don't take all day, understand? I want you back here by sundown and not a second later. There's no way in hell I'm gonna stand out in this cold while you take your time adventuring."

"But…Bro, what do I-"

"I know you'll figure something out. Just have some fun, alright?"

Any further misgivings would only have been thrown at Kamina's back as he strutted away through the town. Simon let a sigh break through his lips, and out of sheer habit his head sank down to face the cracks and dirt on the ground. For a long while he could only stand and twist the small drill between his fingers, embarassed and unsure of what to do with himself.

An impulse got him to look back across the street, but the boy who had been sitting by the snow bank was no longer there. Curious, and uninterested in standing around like a vagrant, Simon crossed to the crumbling wall where the other child had been and took a look around.

He noticed impressions in the snow where two legs had taken seat, and even a complete handprint on the side of the snow bank. A thought occurred to Simon, and though he immediately cast the notion down as childish, he didn't hesitate to stretch out his own hand and fit it into the indent in the snow. A wet, numbing cold swept his fingers, but Simon was too surprised to notice it. His hand was almost identical to the print, a perfect reflection in size and shape.

Frowning, he pulled away and whipped his palm on the leg of his pants. His eyes wandered up, and caught sight of a trail of footprints leading in an arch around the side of a building. Simon got up and followed them closely, keeping his head low and wondering if his foot would match the impressions the way his hand had.

Turning a corner he glanced up, and there was the other boy, squatting in a deep shadow and watching the street beyond with his large eyes. He heard Simon coming, and like a frightened rabbit he instantly leapt upright and spirited off into an alleyway.

Stunned only for a moment, Simon lurched forward and began to chase after him. The other boy was surprisingly fast, and unlike his pursuer he seemed to know exactly where he was going.

"Wait!" Simon shouted. "Stop! Don't run away!"

The other boy charged on heedlessly, dashing through the shadows cast by the buildings so quickly that it was almost impossible to keep an eye on him. Many times the boy's trail would be seemingly lost in the maze of streets, but at the last moment Simon would catch a glimpse of shining blonde hair somewhere just ahead, vanishing like an arrow around the next turn. Desperate, he would pick up his heels and try to run faster, but the other boy was always a dozen paces ahead.

Finally Simon crashed around a corner, his eyes searching for the flaxen-haired stranger, only to find that he was completely alone. Panting and heaving for breath, he turned in a circle and looked all around, but saw only grey walls on every side. This time there was no sign of the other boy; not even footprints to follow.

The disappointment Simon expected to feel didn't come. Instead, he was blindsided by a wash of relief that put him at a total loss.

_What was I thinking?_ he wondered. _Since when do I chase after strange kids on the street? I don't think that's what Kamina meant by showcasing my manhood._

Suddenly weary, Simon rubbed his face with his frost-nipped hands and wondered despondently how he would ever find his way back to the main street. He turned to walk away, deciding to try and find his own tracks in the snow, when a loud crash from behind caught his attention.

A door Simon hadn't seen in the side of a nearby wall burst open, releasing a clamor of shouts and what sounded like an avalanche of metal pots. The furious cries escaladed, and then out of the darkness beyond the door tumbled the golden-haired boy.

Simon gaped as the child threw himself onto the hard street, his feet frantically scrabbling for purchase on the slick stone. When he lifted his head the sunlight blazed on a line of blood along his brow, highlighting the bold red trail it had drawn down his cheek.

"I'LL SNAP YOUR FOUL LITTLE NECK, YOU RAT!" A thunderous cry seemed to be pushing the child away from the door, and a second later half a dozen grown men poured out onto the street close to where Simon stood.

All the men were roaring foul curses and throwing pots or knives at the boy as he fled down the next ally. One cleverly aimed metal pan cracked over the boy's head, the snap echoing loudly along the closely packed walls. He stumbled, but then recovered and ran on, with three of the men chasing after like angry wolves.

The sounds of the chase dimmed quickly, and soon Simon was standing alone with the remaining men. He was desperate to run, but his feet seemed to have been frozen to the spot, and he could only watch as the largest of the strangers turned to look back at him.

Immediately the man's face softened with a grin. "Well, look there boys! We've got a brand new face in town! What's your name kid? Don't stand out there in the cold, now! Come on in and grab something to eat. We'll be glad to have a guest today, won't we?"

Simon's frayed nerves were slow to relax, even as he was welcomed by friendliest crowd of strangers he had met in Cascade. Whistling and joking, they collected the knives and pans they had thrown and escorted Simon in through the door, seeming not to hear his questions about the other boy they had so cruelly chased away.


	3. Don't Think You Can Ever Understand

****** **Hows it going, everybody? I've gotten chapter three up, now that my poor fingers are numb...ah, just kidding. I actually got feeling back about 20 minutes ago. ;)

Anyway this chapter DOES HAVE AN ILLUSTRATION, so get your lazy fingers clickn' over to my profile for the link! I rather like the way it turned out, plus it gives you a real good look at one of the characters here...I really shouldn't say. Heck, some surprises might be spoiled if you do look at it, but I really couldn't prevent that any longer. They're not big surprises.

Okay, enjoy the chapter, and the illustration, and I'll see ya soon! ********

**Update: Chapter Three illustration posted!**

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**Chapter Three**

**Don't Think You Can Ever Understand**

"Right on time" Kamina lauded as Simon clomped across the bridge to stand by his side. "Now let's get out of here before we lose our toes. I can't believe how cold it is in this stinking pit!"

Simon nodded once, inwardly sighing his relief at actually finding the bridge again. The rowdy men that had so easily coaxed him into their restaurant had given confusing directions back to the main street. It wasn't surprising that he gotten lost several times, but he soon found the footprints left from his chase earlier in the day, and had easily followed them all the way back to the snow bank.

The handprint there had reminded Simon again of the other boy, and as he thought about him now a feeling of guilt began to prickle his mind. He had been treated to a good time with the hard-working men of Cascade, as they shared all their exotic foods, drinks and games with him, treating him like an equal in their midst. It had been easy to forget the sharp sound of the metal pan when it had smacked the boy's golden head. It had been effortless to overlook the terrible hatred they all had for one small child, though now the thoughts would not leave Simon's mind.

He closed his eyes, and was glad to see only darkness and not the image of the boy's blood streaked face turned up to the unwelcoming sun.

"Hey Simon, are you coming, or do you want to stand there all night?"

Kamina was waiting at the foot of the bridge, his long face fixed in a look of mild curiosity. Simon hurried to catch up to him, apologizing reflexively under his breath and receiving a gentle scolding for it.

As the unusual pair walked away from the bridge, another figure was making its way toward it from underneath. The small feet of a child crunched the snow along the bank as he moved into the shadow under the stone arch. Thinking he was unnoticed, the boy paused to touch his head, wincing as his fingertips disturbed a tender wound and came back dark with blood.

The child sighed and cleaned his hand in the snow, leaving a pale red mark behind as he continued on.

"Listen," Kamina said. "Sorry for having to send you out by yourself today, Simon. Yoko and I…were doing some boring investigating, you know, adult stuff…and…" he stopped and tapped his teeth together angrily. "Ah, screw it! This has been bugging me all day. I won't let her talk me into any more crap like that again, alright? Leave it to a chick to drive a few nails into Team Gurren's armor. Ha! See if I ever fall for that again, thunder thighs!"

Simon began to say that he didn't mind spending the day alone when he happened to glance to his left and see something shifting in the shadows by the bridge. He slowed, peering in the dull light. He saw a spot of red, its brash color saturated by the snow, but so out of place against blues and grays of the rest of the town.

Looking deeper, he could just make out the shape of a person under the bridge. Instantly his mind stopped, and for a moment it seemed the whole world had shifted around on its side.

"That's him," he murmured.

"What's that? What did you say?" Kamina turned and looked back, trying to follow Simon's astonished gaze.

"Bro, that's him! That's the boy I chased! He's under the bridge!"

Kamina backtracked a few paces, not hiding the questioning look on his face. "You were chasing kids around today? I know I said to have fun, Simon, but that just sounds a little nutty—"

"He's hurt! Come on, we've gotta go help him!"

Simon took off for the bridge before Kamina could utter another syllable of protest. He scurried down the bank, kicking up showers of ice and nearly tripping himself into the snow in his rush.

He stumbled into the wide swale and leapt over the small frozen stream that divided its center, hoping silently that the other boy would not take off at a glance the way he had before. Simon knew he had no chance of catching him if he did. Just before the bridge he slowed, approaching carefully now as if it were a wild animal he was advancing on.

"H-hello? Are you there?" he called softly. "I don't want you to be afraid of me. I'm not going to throw stuff at you, okay? Actually, I know you got hurt, and I want to help."

Simon did not find the boy under the bridge, but looked up to see him standing on the other side of the arch, his feet buried in snow up to his ankles. Some of the blood on his face was crusted and streaked where he had tried to wipe it away, but the slick gash above his eyebrows was still glimmering and wet. Simon felt sick looking at him, wondering who could be so ruthless as to cut a child so gravely.

He knew, of course, who was responsible. One of the men who had shown him such tremendous hospitality had also been the one to attack the child. Who else could it have been? _And I didn't say anything,_ Simon thought bitterly. _I pretended like it never happened, playing games while he's out here bleeding in the snow. _

"I'm sorry." The words came out before he even thought to say them. His voice checked for a moment, and he felt his cheeks turn red in humiliation. "I'm... sorry. Please…let me help you."

The boy stared at him, shock like a strange motionless mask over his face. He didn't move, so Simon stepped closer.

Just then Kamina charged into the scene, following Simon down the bank and into the swale and shouting all the way. "What the hell are you doing, bro? I want to go find a nice fire and get out of this cold, and you're over here chasing kids and running off bridges! What am I—"

Simon grabbed his arm and silenced him with a sharp look. Kamina frowned, and then saw the other boy watching from a few yards away. His expression instantly darkened, and he whistled softly.

"Damn," he whispered. "What happened to him?"

Simon shook his head helplessly. "We're gonna help him, right, bro?"

"Well what did you think we were gonna do?" Kamina snapped. "Just let him walk around by himself 'til his head falls off? 'Course were gonna help him. Hey!" The other boy flinched when he heard the shout, but he did not run. "Don't just stand there! Come over here so we can fix you up!"

Carefully Simon edged his way closer to the boy, thinking that at any moment the child could decide to run and that would be the end of it. He was both pleased, and surprised when he found himself less than a foot away, looking closer than ever at the other child's grey face.

"It's alright," he soothed. "We just want to help."

The other boy raised an inquisitive eyebrow, almost looking amused at this idea. Then, while Simon held his breath and prayed for a response, the rogue urchin nodded once and tried to show what might have been a slightly warped smile.

Simon made sure to walk close to the other boy as Kamina led them to the inn he and Yoko had found, just in case he stumbled or decided to have a change of heart. As they approached the doors of the inn the boy hesitated, looking uncertainly from Simon to the yellow-lighted windows ahead.

Carefully, they managed to coax him through the doors and across the lobby to their room. Kamina noticed the disgusted look on the inn keeper's face when he saw them come in, but returned it with a challenging glare that the man could not meet.

"I guess people aren't as friendly around here as I thought," he muttered.

In their separate room they found Yoko sitting on the edge of one of four small beds, carefully cleaning her rifle in the florescent lamp light. The look on her face when she saw the strange boy Simon had in tow was one of pure concern and disbelief.

"Go get some wet towels would you?" Kamina asked her. "Simon, go see if you can find those bandages we brought. I know they're around here someplace."

Warily Yoko set down the gun in a corner and moved to the small bathroom. While Simon was digging through the luggage that had been carelessly tossed on the floor, Kamina guided the other boy to a bed and got him to sit down.

Most of the blood striping the boy's face came off easily, and once the cut had been entirely cleaned it didn't look nearly as horrendous. The boy made no sounds as his wound was tended, only kept his large eyes hooded and locked on the ground, much to Simon's distress. Occasionally he would look up and focus on Kamina when he was asked a question, but he never supplied an answer though words or gestures.

Simon wanted so badly for him to speak, to simply demonstrate that there was still life inside his battered frame, but the boy did not seem so eager. It was obvious that he was no stranger to hardship, just by the hollow, sunken look to his fleshless face. His hair was far more untamed than Simon had first realized, and though it seemed to have been long and handsome once upon a time, frayed strips of it now law over his shoulders like ripped fabric.

Just as the bandages were being wound around the boy's head, a hard knock came on the door and the inn keeper demanded to be let in. Outside they could hear the large man tapping something metal on the floor, and Simon was afraid that it might be a gun of some kind.

Kamina handed the roll of bandages to Yoko and stood up. "I'll take care of this," he said gruffly and sauntered over to the doorway.

"Listen up you three" the inn-keeper growled. "I've got you outnumbered in manpower, understand? If you don't open this door we're gonna—"

"Could you keep it down, old man?" Kamina pulled the door open and confronted the inn keeper and his men with a hard stare. "What could you possibly want in the middle of the night, huh?"

The inn keeper brandished a weapon, a long metal bat that he clutched hard enough to break. "I know you brought that little rat into my inn," he snarled. "Either you hand him over or we take him and kick the lot of you out into the snow."

Kamina's bright eyes narrowed, and his voice was cold as he said, "That's not going to happen, pops. We paid for this room, and we're gonna bring anybody we want in here, got that?"

"You'll be lucky if you don't get run out of town for harboring that scum." The inn keeper ground his teeth, mirroring the hateful glares on the faces of the others behind him. "Nothing good has ever come of him, the cursed little _bastard_."

His anger growing hot, Kamina stepped in close to the other man and scowled dangerously. "Go ahead and say one more word. I dare you, call that kid one more name and just see what happens."

Suddenly a series of clicks alerted Simon and Yoko, and they realized that the men at the door were all holding out guns, their shining barrels pointed through the doorway and into the room.

"Step aside punk! Where's the little vermin?" the inn keeper hollered and tried to push past Kamina by swinging the metal bat.

Reflex took over and Kamina lashed out at the large man, striking him hard in his ample gut with his knee. The inn keeper folded and gasped, but his men were pushing forward from behind, already half way into the room. Yoko dropped the bandages and dashed to the corner to grab her own gun, pushing Simon and the other boy down between the beds as she passed by.

"You stupid ice-freaks!" Kamina roared as he drove his fist into one man's cheek. "You're looking for an ass-whoopin'? Get, ready, 'cus here it comes!"

Fists and blood and bullets were flying in the small doorway, the noise of it so loud that Simon had to cover his ears. He looked to the other boy, but instantly caught his breath when he realized that he was not by his side. He glanced up, and saw the strange child racing for the back of the room, stray bullets pelting the floor and walls around him as he ran.

"Don't let him get away!" someone shouted.

"Quick! Shoot him! Shoot him!"

A dozen loud bangs filled the room as all the men fired their guns and Yoko fired back. Simon's cry was lost in the ear-splitting noise, and the dust that had engulfed the air blinded him as he searched for desperately for his friend.

He caught sight of the child throwing the window open as a few bullets shattered the glass frame. The boy didn't pause, but quickly clambered over the window sill and out charged into the night, the white bandages flapping behind him like a flag. The men continued to fire, as if they could not help themselves, until the Inn keeper screamed at them to stop.

"He's gone out the west side, damn it. He'll be hiding in the alleyways while we're standing here shooting at some walls and a bunch of punk-ass kids!"

The men grumbled to themselves, thoughtlessly turning to leave at that very minute, when Simon jumped up on the bed and pitched a lamp at the inn keeper's skull, stunning the entire crowd as the crack sounded in the room.

"Just look what you did!" he screamed. "What's the matter with you? He's just a kid and you were SHOOTING AT HIM? Are you CRAZY? Do you even know what you're doing?" He tried to keep the angry tears off his face, but his frustration was like a fist squeezing his heart. The pain of it made him feel ready to explode. "How can you be so cruel? Because of you he's too afraid of people to even ask for help when he's hurt! He can't go to anybody because they might break his neck, so he has to live out in the dark and the cold and you act like that's a good thing! I've never met people so completely twisted in my entire life!"

The inn keeper stared at Simon, red faced and furious. "We haven't got time to listen to your big talk, son," he said. "Don't think you can ever understand. You'll never know what that boy did to this town. Pack up and leave now, before you go and cause any more trouble."

With that they left, the sound of their boots clomping away still ringing in Simon's ears as he collapsed on the bed. Even in the silence, it took him a long time to stop shaking.

Chapter Three


	4. Tip The Bottle Back

****** **Hello everyone, welcome back. Sheesh the popularity of this story is starting to freak me out. I've never had this many views before, or any reviews at all (from someone I don't know, that is...) so you can imagine I'm starting to feel a little pressure from the crowd.

Well you all can just knock it off! I've got a Biology test this week and I need to be thinking about glycerides and amino acids and not..._This crazyness_. But really, don't worry about me. I'll work it out, because I kicked logic to the curb and spent my study time writing this chapter! It's a transitional chapter, moving into the next phase here, so it may put you to sleep. I don't know, maybe you like excessive dialogue.

**No Illustration **this time. I have been working on one, but it belongs to chapter five. Hey, and if you don't care about illustrations...tough beans. Ignore them.

Love you guys! See ya soon!********

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Chapter Four

**Tip the Bottle Back**

The next morning Yoko woke up feeling cramped and drowsy. She rolled over and flailed as she fell off the small couch, bruising her bum on the hard wooden floor. She groaned, giving voice to her misery and disorientation. She looked around and didn't recognize where she was, and immediately her heart started pounding and her hand reached for her rifle.

Slowly she recalled the events of the night before and the memories calmed her, though they also put her in a gloomier mood. After their room at the inn had been raided and spotted with bullet holes, she, Kamina and Simon had stormily departed in the hopes of finding hospitality elsewhere. There were no other inns in Cascade, so they had been lucky to be taken in by a kind family on the north side of town. Their dinner had been meatless but still appetizing, though the sleeping accommodations were arduous at best.

Kamina and Simon had slept on the floor, giving Yoko the couch for the night. She rubbed her neck and wondered if the floor would have been more comfortable.

"Well, at least I _got_ some sleep," she mumbled. Poor Simon would probably have deep bags under his eyes this morning; he had been so distraught over what had happened at the inn that he had been unable to catch even an hour of rest. He hadn't wanted to talk about it, choosing instead to lie in a dark corner and fret himself sick.

Yoko shook her head sadly. Simon had every right to be upset, but at the same time she knew that he would soon forget his worries. Once they put Cascade behind them, that orphan boy would eventually become the last thing on his mind.

Looking around the small room she discovered that Simon was not there. Kamina was still grumbling senselessly in his sleep, stretched out on the floorboards while the cool morning light painted his skin a light blue.

Feeling a touch of worry, Yoko wandered into the kitchen and found the mother of the family standing at the stove. She was stirring some kind of yellow vegetable in a frying pan, filling the small room with a heavy, burnt scent. The cheerful woman was humming to herself when Yoko walked in.

"Good morning," they both said.

"I was wondering," Yoko went on, "did you happen to see that little boy who was with us? I can't seem to find him."

The woman smiled gently, though something in her eyes seemed worried. "He left late last night dear, after you and your older friend had fallen asleep. Our daughter saw him from her bedroom window, walking down the street all alone. I thought he was just getting some air, and I didn't want to wake you. I hope he hasn't gotten lost."

"Simon? Lost?" Yoko pretended to laugh. "He's too smart for that. Don't worry about him."

After politely excusing herself, she hurried back to the living room and franticly kicked Kamina awake; silencing his raucous shouts with the news that Simon had run away.

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Clomp, clomp…shff…clomp, clomp…

…_Shff…_Worn shoes sliding on the slick stone of the bridge railing, the golden-haired boy gleefully laughed as the white bandages snapped over his shoulders, waving like tails in the bitter wind. He grinned and touched his forehead.

No pain. No blood.

_A miracle._

_Clomp, clomp…shff…_

At the other end of the bridge he saw a small figure in blue rushing toward him, every stride toting fear…or maybe it was just desperation. It was a strange look this other child wore. The golden-haired boy was not used to looks like that.

"Be careful," Simon called. He was nervously watching the other boy's feet balanced on the stone edge, trying to banish thoughts of him falling headfirst into the freezing water dozens of feet below. He was starting to wonder how long he could go on worrying over this stranger; after only one day he was emotionally exhausted.

The boy smiled at him devilishly, an expression Simon had not yet seen cross his pale face. He stopped, looking up at his friend from a wary distance. "Why don't you come down," he suggested. "Let me fix those bandages before they fall off."

The strange expression blinked out and the boy frowned. He searched in his pocket, and then drew something bright and metal out to display in the shaded sunlight. Simon gazed upon his precious core drill in the boy's dirty hand, feeling sick surprise splinter though his chest.

"When did you—" he started.

The boy's shoulders drooped, and he tilted his head thoughtfully. "You didn't notice it was gone?"

Now Simon's surprise advanced into full on shock. He had come to think that the golden-haired stranger was mute, for he hadn't said a word since they met, even when he was being chased by the angry townspeople. Somehow those words he had just spoken were unreal, and for a minute Simon wondered if he'd even heard them at all.

"I stole this earlier," the boy explained. "When they were shooting, you were distracted. It was a good time." He tossed the drill lightly in his hand, seeming to study it. "I thought you would notice right away that it was gone. And, that I took it."

"I didn't," Simon admitted. "I didn't know at all."

This didn't seem to make sense to the other boy, and his eyebrows knitted even closer together on his forehead. "Then…why are you still here?"

Simon met his grey-eyed gaze, hesitating to speak, afraid of something that he couldn't quiet name yet. What was it? What did that look mean? Something in this other being was familiar, something about him was screaming out, fighting all the other noise just to impart some overlooked truth that Simon was dying to know.

_What the hell do you want to say?_

"I know who you are," Simon said. "You're Linus. The one everyone in this town hates so much, though they won't tell us why. But you went to Paradise. You know what it's like there."

"Paradise," the boy whispered contemptuously. "Paradise, he says. More like hell." He laughed enthusiastically for a long time, as if he had said something truly hilarious, giggling on until the sound seemed to have worked into the air and chilled it even further. He began walking along the stone railing, moving away from Simon and muttering to himself.

"Send Linus out; go find Paradise boys. We found it, we found it, we did," he chuckled eerily. "More like it found us. I fell though, saw the blood, but I made it back. Why did they look at me that way? The bridge fell, and then they started to throw stones. The cuts always bled. And it never stops. Not ever."

Simon caught up to him, fearing that he might fall. "Linus, what happened when you went to Paradise? What did you find there?"

"They'd been looking at the sun too long, you see," Linus mumbled. "They looked and looked all the long day, and the next. Were they blind? But they caught us still. That didn't fit, not at all."

Simon grabbed his sleeve, trying to stop the boy's steady progress. "Stop, don't tip that way! You're going to fall!"

Linus laughed again and began to sing, "Tip the bottle back, John! Tip the bottle back! Tip the bottle back, tip, tip, and tip!" He crouched down and looked into Simon's face, grinning wildly like a wolf. "Tip the bottle back, Simon! Tip the…bottle…back," he gulped, suddenly looking crestfallen and ashamed. "…fill up."

Though the two of them were not close together, even the edges of Simon's vision seemed to be filled with the other boy's tragic face. He could not begin to grasp the sweeping desert behind those eyes, though the glimpse he caught of it drove a spike of fear right through his core.

"I know," he said gently, "I know that something terrible happened to you on that mountain. You weren't always this way, were you?"

Linus forced a smile. He muttered, "I guess I've been playing a few too many games, right Simon? Got to stop licking these old wounds."

Biting his lip, Simon clutched Linus' wiry wrist as he straightened and prepared to jump down from the railing.

A rude bang abruptly shattered the peaceful morning air, making them both jump. Simon cried out when Linus' left side jerked back as if he had been hit on his shoulder with a hammer, the force of the unknown impact throwing his balance over the edge of the bridge. A sparkling splash of blood leapt up from a small hole in his collar, and the next breath he was toppling headfirst into open space.

"Got 'em!" came the joyful hoot.

Simon hurled himself at the railing but the thin wrist he held twisted roughly out of his fingers. He was grasping cold air, and Linus was falling off the bridge, away from him toward the black water so far below.

There was so much fear on both their faces, but with chaos flying down, haughty mortality rolling up from beneath, and the stampede of sour joy charging in from the side, it could hardly even be noticed.


	5. The Miracle Man

********Yeah! I'm so excited! My record number of views for any month has been shattered! We now stand at 168 views for September (kinda puny to some of you I guess, but soooo great for me!).

Looks like we've got about 25 solid readers for this story. Also more than I've ever had before. I want you all to know that my world is a thousand times brighter because of your intrest.

And, before I forget, this chapter comes with and **ILLUSTRATION! **Go check it out. I really like the way it came out, myself. ;) See ya soon!********

**Update: New Chapter 5 Illustration posted on profile.**

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Chapter Five

**The Miracle Man**

_The ash-grey line brazenly dividing the heart of the page was not to Linus' liking. It was clearly too thick, and the longer he stared at it the more certain he was that it was crooked. He sighed. No matter; paper was so scarce that he had become a professional at ironing out mistakes without the aid of an eraser._

_He bowed his head, his nose hovering over the page close enough to smell the metallic waft of pencil fragments. He pulled the sharpened tip over the blank surface with slow precision, feeling like he was tip-toeing on the edge of a wire. He willed his hand not to shake, imagined it to be as sturdy as a rock, though he thought silently that the last thing he would want for a hand was a rock. _

_Five feet away the small door to his apartment suddenly crashed open and slammed into the stone wall at its back. The splintering noise was like cannon fire in the small room, loud and frightening as it smashed the established silence. Linus cried out and banged his knees on the lip of his solid wood desk, stopping himself from tumbling backwards by the sheer force of his thrashing arms._

_Crouching on his stool, he shot a frayed glance to the doorway. The door had been shut again, and a tall, slender man was peering though the peephole in the swollen wood, his thin-as-thread frame trembling with laughter. _

_Linus' excitement seemed to be balled up and crushed by a fist of anxiety. Of all the people…_

"_Hehe, what a riot that old geezer is," the man giggled. "Oh, he'll be one for the books!"_

_The man then turned and showed his glowing face, the grin he bore so wide it seemed to be hinged on his ears. His laugh was like the chorus of a song sung by dozens of jolly voices, the countenance of joy he spilled into the room almost too intense to be real. He strode over to Linus and smiled like a dear friend, and despite his shaking hands Linus smiled back._

"_S…Saburo…What are you doing here?"_

_The man winked. "I came to see what my little buddy Linus was up to! I can't let you stay cooped up in here all the sweet day! Let's go out!"_

"_Go out?" Linus repeated fearfully. "What are we going to do? Why are you asking me to come?"_

_Saburo shrugged. Even when his face was relaxed his lips were turned upwards. "Does it matter? We can just hang out, right?"_

_Linus looked doubtful. "I…I was kind of working on something…"_

"_Oh?" Saburo leaned over the desk, seeing the multitude of drawings Linus had pinned around the room for the first time. "Damn, Linus. I didn't know you could draw like this. These are incredible!"_

_Embarrassed, Linus blushed and tried to hide his face in the collar of his jacket. Meanwhile Saburo eyed every drawing with unabashed amazement, his trademark smirk sweeping across his face and sticking there as if it were glued on. Finally he let out an delighted whistle. _

"_You…are really good at this, man," he muttered, but then he frowned. "Listen, Linus. I've got a favor to ask."_

"_What…what is it?" _

_Saburo turned to look the small boy in the face, suddenly all business. "You know how everyone is thinking we're gonna find a path to lead us up to Paradise right? That's why they sent that scouting group out last week, the one your dad's with."_

_Linus nodded. He was still unsure how he felt about his father being forced to lead the expedition, but he didn't say anything out loud._

_Saburo went on, "Well here's what I'm thinking: I don't believe for a minute that a path will do us any good in the long run. What we need is a bridge! A huge one made of metal that we can ride carts on all the way across the ice planes and up the mountain. Wouldn't that be better than some lousy road?"_

"_I guess so…but what do I—"_

"_I'm getting to where you come in," he soothed. "I've talked to the bridge builder about this, and he says he likes the idea, but I think that old fart-bag's just humoring me, you know? He wants a picture of it, a kinda…sketchy thing, with all the measurements and junk."_

_Linus made a face. "You mean…like a blueprint?"_

"_Exactly!" Saburo cheered. "The bridge builder won't give my idea the time of day without one of those beauties! I can't draw worth the beans I'm eating tonight, so I can't do it. But looking around here…" he indicated all the drawings with a wave of his hand. "I'll bet my right foot that you could do it for me!"_

"_Why…" Linus gulped, feeling uncomfortable with the intensity in the young man's eyes. "Why would you bet you're right foot?"_

"_Who cares! What do ya say, Linus? Will you help me out?"_

"_Well, I guess I could," he mumbled. "You would have to tell me what you want-"_

_Immediately Saburo snatched one of the precious sheets of paper Linus had set aside and attacked it with the first pencil he could wrap his fingers around. "Like this, you know?" he explained, pointing out the obscure shapes he created on the page. "It'll have to be enormous, with enough room for two carts to pass at once, maybe more."_

_Ignoring the pang of grief he felt over the wasted paper, Linus searched for a new sheet and began his own sketch. "Is this right?" he asked after a few minutes._

_Saburo looked over and grinned. "Perfect, just like that! How do you do this Linus? It's amazing!" He watched every flick of the boy's wrist with terrific excitement, ideas rolling out of his mind faster than they could be written down. He laughed cheerfully and patted Linus' head of golden hair. "Hey bud, you wanna know what I think? I think you and me are going to save this town with this bridge. Hell, maybe it'll be you who ends up saving us all, Linus. What do you say to that?"_

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It seemed every beating heart in Cascade had awoken and gathered on the bridge by the time the tiny, forsaken body of their most reviled citizen had crashed into the freezing river. Simon had to fight just to breathe, crushed against the cold stone rail with dozens of bodies pressing him from behind.

Linus was nothing but a tattered shadow in the black water now, quickly disappearing under the stone arch while excited onlookers strained to catch even a glimpse of him from above. Disregarding manners, Simon roughly pushed and kicked his way out of the suffocating crowd. The opposite rail was also swamped with people, but rudely shoving the excited bodies aside proved an effective way to reach the edge. Looking over, Simon witnessed a spot of yellow spurt up from the water, and realized that Linus was alive, but drowning in his attempt to reach the shore.

A flame of desperation lighted in Simon's stomach, and he recklessly tried to crawl over the railing and dive into the river, only to be repeatedly pulled back by a stranger's rough hands.

"Stay here, boy," someone said in his ear. "That water'll stop your heart dead in a minute. It's too cold down there!"

"But Linus," Simon sobbed. "You're just going to let him _die_?"

No response came, or perhaps it was swallowed by the roar of chaotic sounds and emotions threatening to collapse the bridge. Simon felt he had lost himself somewhere in the mess. All he was sure of was that golden head fighting an impossible current and failing slowly despite any grasp his fingers could find.

Suddenly a tremendous cry spewed from the mass of people, echoing like the roar of a monster along the stone streets. Looking down, he saw that another figure had emerged in the water, a figure that Simon knew far too well.

"Kamina!" he screamed. Fear swept down like a curtain, collapsing over him with a surprising weight. People were pushing Simon from behind, grabbing his arms, and he was certain they would accidentally toss him over the railing next. The bodies around were like solid prison walls, impossible to penetrate, impossible to escape.

But…Simon could see that the townspeople were not focusing their hideous energy on him. Their intent, as lawless as it was, was pinpointed on the two dying humans in the icy river.

A choked hush cinched around the crowd. It seemed that the blue-haired stranger was actually swimming toward the treacherous Linus, and a collective gasp was raised when Kamina managed to grab the boy and pull his head out of the water.

The next moment the two were cutting across the lapping waves to the shore. Already many of the townspeople had abandoned the bridge and were hurrying down to stand along the bank, and Simon instinctively followed them. He forced his way past dozens of lumbering citizens as they moved down the bridge, and reached the edge of the river just as Kamina dragged himself and an unconscious Linus out of the deadly water.

The crowd had seemingly found its raucous voice once more, and countless people were shouting and hollering all at the same time, creating a pulse of sound loud enough to make the ground hum.

"Y—you got…s-s-somepin' to…s-s-s-say, punks!" Kamina muttered breathlessly. His water-slick skin was a sickly white, and the soft skin around his eyes and lips was blue and trimmed in frost. "C-c-come down…here, and…s-s-s-say it t-t-t-to my face!"

Simon wiggled his way to the front of the crowd, and then stumbled down the steep slope to the river side. He dropped to his knees in front of his friends, trying to look Kamina in the eye and ignore the frightening pallor of his face.

"Are you alright, bro?" he sputtered. "You look frozen! We've gotta get you guys some help!"

A shadow fell over Simon's back, and he glanced up to see a handful of tall men wearing odd grey uniforms gathered around him. One of the men was collecting Linus' wilted and shivering body off the ground, while another was trying to force Kamina to his feet (and receiving a stream of curses for the attempt).

Simon realized that these gruff-looking individuals were the town authorities, here to take control of the rebel situation.

"H-hey!" Kamina shouted. "G-get…b-back here! Where d-d-do you think you're g-g-oing…with t-t-that kid?"

The officer carrying Linus paused, looking uncertainly at one of the biggest of the men in grey. The man sneered at Kamina, his pebbly eyes narrowing into his fleshy face.

"This boy is under arrest," the head officer growled. "He is to be taken to the prison for detainment until his trial can be arranged."

"What?" Kamina jumped up, his quaking knees barely able to hold his weight. "I j-just d-d-dragged him out of…t-t-the river, DAMN IT! Like hell…unh…Like HELL your gonna chuck him in s-s-some prison cell after that!"

The head officer didn't budge. "This is the law of our town, sir. This boy is to be imprisoned upon arrest!"

"But he'll die!" Simon cried. "He fell off the bridge because someone shot him! He needs a doctor!"

"Young man—"

"DON'T SAY ANOTHER WORD!"

All at once the crowd, the officers, and even the river seemed to fall silent. All eyes flew to a pillar on the bridge where Yoko was leaning and aiming her rifle's nose at the head officer. She glared furiously at the man, defying his cold iron gaze with her mutually potent one.

"If he doesn't get treatment soon, that child _will _die," she said. "He won't make it to your stupid trial if you arrest him now. If you even try it, I won't hesitate to blast you all right out of this pit, you hear me officer?"

For a long time the officer did not give a response, but seeing that the fiery girl was not going to back down, he decided to acquiesce for the moment. He nodded stiffly to the man with Linus crumpled in his arms.

"Take the wretch to the hospital," he grunted. "We'll arrest him once he is released. As for the three of you," he went on, looking directly at Kamina, "be aware that more mishaps like this will no longer be tolerated. Respect the affairs of this town, if you wish to remain welcome here."

With that the officers dispersed into the crowd, forcing people away from the scene with unquestionable authority. Simon and Yoko helped Kamina up to the street, where they closely followed the officer bearing their friend all the way to the hospital.


	6. Who's The One Turning The Knife?

****** **Whoo! Hello everyone! What a crazy few weeks these have been, I'll tell ya. I don't want to bore you with my complaints, but I do need to let you know that I really can't post any faster than this. I think...lets see, it's been a little over two weeks since my last update on this story, which is pretty good all consitered. I don't think any of you are on the edge of your seats, so I'm in safe waters as far as that goes.

I can't (or I won't) post the next chapter until I finish the illustration for it, and that will delay it even more than normal. I'm almost done with the complete outline for Cry, Mercy, Cry, and it's looking like anywhere from 12-14 chapters total. Its still flexable. We'll see what happens. Anyway, enjoy what you've got, belive me when I say the action will pick up soon, and review if you can find it in your heart. (zaru not included, because you always review.)

See ya soon!********

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Chapter 6

**Who's the One Turning the Knife?**

The hospital was a dismally small building on the far west side of town, tucked carefully into the shadow of the pit walls. Linus was brought unhurriedly through the door and passed off to the nurses. The three small women working that night insisted that Kamina accept treatment as well, and he put up little argument against them.

Simon sat like a stone on the floor until late in the afternoon, refusing to break even for lunch. Eventually Yoko gave up trying to coax him out to kill time around the town, and went off by herself. A few hours after sundown one of the nurses nearly tripped over him as she stumbled out of the private medical room, and scolded him for sitting so close to the door.

Simon ignored her, and rudely cut in with, "Is Linus alright?"

The nurse's eyes lost their severe glare, and she seemed to grey. "Is that who you were waiting for? He was just transferred to the west wing. He'll survive, but he'll need rest."

"Can I talk to him?" Simon pleaded wearily. "I'll only be a minute, I promise."

Shrugging, the nurse told him where to go, and then warned him not to take too long. "I don't know how much _talking_ you'll be able to do," she muttered.

Simon found Linus in an open room lined on both sides with small beds. The thin boy was lying on his side with half a dozen blankets heaped over his shoulders, and he didn't appear to notice that he had company.

"I guess he's sleeping," Simon sighed, and looked longingly at the other beds. He had never felt so tired, or at least it had been a long time since he had felt this worn. He wondered vaguely how Kamina was doing.

"You looked whipped," Linus said suddenly, making Simon clench his teeth in surprise. The blonde boy looked a decade younger as he smiled crookedly and laughed.

"I look…whipped?"

Linus sat up, pushing aside the weighty blankets. "Yeah, whipped. Like…sleepy…"

Simon stared at him, his eyes spreading wide and frightened all of a sudden. "Linus…" he choked, "your arm…"

The other boy's confused expression melted instantly as he touched his left side. Where anyone else would have had a limb, Linus only harbored empty space. A stub at the base of his left shoulder was all that remained of his arm, leaving the small boy looking unbalanced. Then again, Simon thought calling Linus unbalanced was more than accurate.

"That's been that way. I guess you didn't notice because of my jacket," Linus said calmly, as if his attention would rather be elsewhere.

Simon, however, was very interested. "How did it happen?"

The slightly curved smile reappeared, though there was a pained look in his steady gaze. "Paradise," he said. "Well…actually they cut my arm off after I got back, but I had lost most of it by then anyway."

"What do you mean, _lost it?_" Simon tried not to sound as horrifically fascinated as he was.

"It's not important, but I wanted to give you back—" Linus didn't get a chance to finish, for the loud noise of a several people entering the wing interrupted him. Both boys looked to the door and saw four of the stern-looking officers advancing on them, wearing scowls like angry bulls as they marched up to the bed.

"This boy is under arrest," the head officer commanded firmly.

Simon was about to tell the men to go away when a familiar voice did the job for him. Kamina paraded into the room with a tail of blankets chasing him, walking right up to the officer and butted him in the head.

"Didn't think I'd see your ugly mug again for a while ya old toot," Kamina scoffed. "What do you think you're doing here anyway?"

The officer's hairless eyebrows bent even further in toward themselves. It appeared that this grinning, blue-haired man was the last person in the world he wanted to see. "You should be glad I don't have you arrested as well," the officer growled.

"Arrested for what?" Kamina laughed in the other man's face. "For jumping in your lousy river? _You_ should be glad I didn't have any piss to let go when I took my swim! This town could use some warming up if you know what I mean!"

"Kamina!" Yoko grunted, appearing behind him. "Now you're just asking for it. The last thing we need is to have to bail you out of jail."

The officers were all focused on Kamina and his mountainous coat of blankets, and didn't notice Simon and Linus snickering behind them.

"Your friend sure has a presence," Linus whispered. "Is he always like this?"

Simon nodded just as the head officer turned to point at the boys with his finger raised, evidently to accuse them of something. Linus' grin vanished, but the officer had seen it and his tomato colored face sank into an even more fearsome glare.

"Filth," he snarled, moving toward the side of the bed. "You dare mock me?"

"Hey, old man, I was talking to you! Don't just walk—oh...what the hell happened to your arm kid?" Kamina blurted. His eyes were staring at the tightly bandaged stub on Linus' side. "I mean, where the hell did it go?"

Not wanting to be forgotten, the officer grabbed at Linus, ready to yank him out of the hospital bed by his frayed hair while roaring loudly about the hand of Justice. The boy yelped, and Simon lunged forward to protect his friend even as Kamina roughly shoved the larger man to the side. In a few moments the other officers had jumped in, their fists readier to join the brawl than stop it. In a handful of seconds the quiet hospital room transformed into a miniature battlefield, shouts bashing the walls, gunfire shattering fragile windows and a dozen pairs of furious arms and legs all lashing out once.

The nurse's rushed in, but their feminine cries were useless to end the fight. Yoko wasted no time in firing her rifle, though Kamina's hoots and war cries were somehow louder than the boom of exploding gunpowder.

Simon crouched on the dirt-scuffed floor, hoping to crawl along unnoticed, but he was soon pinned down by one of the minor officers and prevented from moving altogether. A moment later two men had a struggling and cursing Kamina pressed into a wall, while the last had managed to steal Yoko's rifle right out of her hands. The noise died into mumblings, and then a weighty silence enclosed the ruined room.

The head officer pressed Linus' face into the ground with his wide hand, his knee jammed into the small boy's back, holding him to the floor.

"Can't get away this time you scum," the man said. Linus only breathed wordlessly in reply, his voice strangled into silence. "Time you were put in that cell. No sense believing you don't deserve it, not after all you stole from the good people of this town. Not even Saburo would forgive you now."

Linus seemed to instantly turn off at these words, and for several moments even the strain on his face dispersed. Then slowly, as if falling from a great height, crippling sorrow broke over his features. He began to weep aloud, his sobs heaving in his chest and rocking the officer holding him. His cries stung the ears of those near him, but no one seemed to know how to settle him down, and soon it was too late.

"I paid too. I PAID," he wailed violently. "See? SEE? I PAID TOO! Don't say that, don't say that to me please!"

Simon watched tensely, almost fearfully. It seemed to him that the normal Linus had existed for only a few minutes, and now this broken creature had returned in the boy's form. What had caused it? A word, it seemed. Or was it the name the officer had mentioned?

_Who is Saburo?_ He wondered, and flinched as Linus howled loudly again and the head officer smacked him, demanding quiet.

"I saw it in your eyes," Linus murmured into the ground. "I saw it, I saw it, I SAW IT!" He trashed wildly on the floor, beating the head officer off and worming away over the spotless tiles. The next second he was up on his feet and running to the corner of the room, as if to hide from something chasing him. He cowered for a moment, and then shrieked in fright and ran to the other side of the room, unknowingly shoving Simon aside in his hurry. The officers shouted for the boy to settle down and cooperate, but their words went unheeded and disappeared uselessly into the air.

"Your screaming won't do anything," one of the nurses said. "If he's gone back, we need that girl! Myla can calm him down!"

"Get her!" The officer raged, trying to stop Linus from running across the beds and chucking pillows.

"Gone back?" Simon wondered. It seemed fitting, for the look in his friend's wide eyes was lost in something far away. He scurried around the room, screaming and fleeing from every person that came near him, crying ceaselessly, and shouting senseless words to the invisible specters following him. It was difficult, but together they managed to keep him in the room until the nurses returned.

A breathless young woman was pushed into the middle of the room toward the frantic Linus. Everyone else stood around the edges, preventing escape. The girl had to pick up her long skirt in order to rush to the boy's side, and she did so readily.

Linus was spinning in circles with a blanket hiding his head, but she reached out and gripped his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Linus, wake up now," she said softly. "Wander back quickly, we're waiting for you."

"I'll have to leave them, My," he answered, apparently recognizing her. "I'll have to leave them all to rot!"

The girl held him still and nodded. "Leave them, there's nothing you can do. We're waiting, so you have to hurry back."

Linus struggled, but then relaxed, folding down and collapsing like a dead man into the girl's arms. The entire room held its breath for a moment, to see if he would jerk back to hysterical life, but he remained still and everyone sighed.

Wordlessly, Myla returned him to one of the still standing beds, and wearily sank into a near-by chair. Her vibrant eyes eventually looked up, pinpointing on the head officer. Her gentle face suddenly flashed into furry.

"You have no reason to be a brute, Officer," she hissed. "You knew how Linus would react to your words. You know how easy it is to trigger a breakdown, and yet you behave so roughly around him. I know you are a good man, and your men are true, but you are all part of the problem with this boy." She turned away and sighed. "Leave for now. Your business can wait until later, I am sure."

His high pride disturbed, the head officer opened his mouth to respond, but Kamina jumped in and started to argue instead. Annoyed, the older man collected his men and left hotly, but not before promising to return the next day.

Myla rubbed her eyes and sighed again. "If you are not friends, then you must leave as well," she said.

"We're friends," Simon answered quickly. "We brought Linus here from the river."

The girl looked at him for a long while, slowly processing what he had said to her. At last she frowned, and asked, "He…fell in the river?"

As Simon explained what happened on the bridge, Myla's face slowly relaxed into soft apathy; apparently no part of Simon's retelling surprised her, though she did seem even gaunter by the end.

"Wait just a damn minute," Kamina said gruffly. He pointed to Linus, lying like a corpse on the bed. "Are you guys telling me that this little kid is _the_ Linus? The guy everyone in this town thinks is some kind of monster?"

Myla pursed her lips at Kamina and Yoko's surprised looks. "Yes, it's hard for me to understand too," she whispered. "Even after all this time."

Simon approached her carefully. He realized, rather abruptly, that she was only a young girl, no older than he or Linus. It was the grayness in her eyes, and the sadness around her mouth that made her appear so much older, he guessed. "Can you tell us why? Why do the townspeople hate him so much? Why…"

"Why is he crazy?" She finished for him. Simon blushed, feeling ashamed even though those were not the words he was going to say. Myla relented, and even tried to smile. "It is a very…long, and sad story, I'm afraid. Even if I tell you, I doubt all of the hatred you've witnessed would make sense."

"Please," Yoko said gently, "tell us what you know. Linus went to paradise, and we may need to go there too, but that isn't the only reason we're asking. Right, Kamina?"

Kamina gave Yoko a callously questioning look. "I don't really care one way or the other! I just want to get the hell out of this deadbeat town and go find me some beastmen to knock around!"

"Shut up!" Yoko countered, bringing her open palm down on his shoulder. "Don't act like you haven't got a heart! I saw you jump in that river after him!"

"Hey, I was just going for a morning swim! Linus had the right idea, but he obviously wasn't manly enough to take the cold, so I pulled him out, that's all!"

Myla cleared her throat, bringing the attention back to her. "In any case, if you want to know what happened, I can tell you what I remember, though I obviously can't explain as much as Linus could." She looked away, off into the middle distance as if searching for the tragic story in the open air. Finally she went on. "Sit down if you want to hear it. It's too bad the sun is going down. This is not something I like to talk about at night."


	7. It's Important

****** Hi all, I'm finally posting, and soooo glad for it. I've been slaving away on homework, and fighting laziness so those two factors are to blame for any delay. I got no complaints from anyone about why I'm not posting, so I guess you are all okay out there. I finished the outline for this story, and we're looking at...13 chapters plus a twisty epilogue (but only if you really want it. I could just leave you hanging).**

**Go to my profile to see the _new illustration_ for this chapter. Also, I've been posting chapters of a _Kingdom Hearts Parody _that I wrote with my friend. It's pretty funny, I think. So go check it out!**

**Alright, enjoy your chapter and see ya soon!******

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Chapter Seven

**It's Important**

Myla began her story with a sigh masquerading as a breath to prepare herself. It was such a despondent sound, however, that Simon was instantly put in a gloomy mood when he heard it.

The look on her face only reinforced what he already knew: Linus and everything, everyone and every moment around him were shrouded in grief. The only knowledge of the story Simon lacked was the details. The rest was easy for him to see, written in the melancholy lines tracing both Linus' and Myla's eyes.

She began by laying out a brief history of Cascade, mentioning that the citizens had never been comfortable underground, and that they had been striving toward the surface for generations.

"We broke through about ten years ago," she explained. "The first few months all we did was celebrate. We had found our way out of the cage, we would live in wealth and joy for the rest of our lives. But…the beastmen showed us how wrong we were. We hadn't found peace, we found death."

Simon looked at his friend's faces as Myla described the beastmen's early assaults on Cascade. Their reactions were nearly undetectable at first, but the more they heard, the sadder they became.

In the first year, there was a war between the townspeople and the invaders, but the winter quickly ended the dispute. The beastmen retreated until summer, and the people of Cascade struggled to survive the unfamiliar temperatures in what was left of their home. When Myla announced how many people died of starvation and cold that year, Yoko's face lost all color and she became exceedingly still. Kamina looked bored as always, but he was silent for too long to be unmoved.

"Linus was the only child his age to survive the first winter," Myla said. "His mother died though. It wasn't uncommon that year, or even the next, to lose a parent or a sibling. My own younger brother died in his bed while my mother and I were fixing a pathetic dinner in the next room. Those kinds of things happened every day."

Myla paused, clearly struggling with her emotions. Her voice was stronger when she went on. "Linus and his father lived in the same building as I did. Linus and I were friends, though he was a few years younger than me, and he did like to keep to himself. I don't think even half the people in this town knew he who he was until last year."

Then, she came to the part everyone wanted to hear. Someone had spotted Paradise on the horizon one day when the snow storms had calmed. Over the next few months excitement grew, until musings became fact; "Salvation could be found on that mountain," Myla said, and smiled sadly. "We just had to get there first."

"After the fifth winter we had figured out some ways to survive, but it still wasn't enough. There was no way we could go on living with so little. Paradise was our only hope, so we began our investigations." She laughed then, not mirthlessly. "There was one boy who wanted to go to Paradise more than anyone. His name was Saburo, which means 'the third son', although no one was sure whose son he was. He was just another orphan, except he may have been the most _cheerful_ orphan you would ever meet."

Simon recognized the name, and looked at Linus with worry. The boy didn't move, and slept on unknowingly. Myla explained that three years ago a large expedition was sent out to try and reach Paradise, with Linus' father as the leader. Unfortunately, no one from the team returned, even after an entire year passed.

"Linus lived alone while his father was gone, but the more time passed, the more certain we became that the entire expedition team had been wiped out." Myla stopped to release one of her characteristic sighs, and Simon realized that she had not looked any of her audience in the eye as she spoke. "All orphans were assigned to a caretaker, but for some reason, Saburo volunteered to adopt Linus instead. He was an adult, and legally able to, but it still surprised many of us. They hadn't been friends before, as far as I know, but after that I never saw them apart."

Simon felt something spark in his gut. The feeling of familiarity he often sensed around Linus returned, though clearer now than it had been before. He was aware of a sort of revelation, a life-altering discovery waiting so close that he could see its outline, but far enough that it still made no sense to him.

_He's been trying to tell me something…_

"Everyone knew Saburo as the town charmer. He was handsome, tactful and genuinely compassionate…and, he had big dreams about reaching Paradise, even when everyone else lost hope. He often dragged Linus into conflicts with the beastmen, who were also trying to reach the mountain. Those two were nothing but trouble, but everyone admired Saburo's determination."

Simon frowned, now that the odd feeling faded a little. He listened absently as Myla continued.

"And then, sometime about a year back, Saburo announced that he was going to build a bridge to Paradise. The town bridge builder had approved the plans, and construction would start once the supplies were gathered.

" '_We need all the metal you can spare to build to supports,' _I remember Saburo saying to us. He organized a collection of all the metal scraps in the town, an over a few moths the pile grew. He apparently stole much of it from the Beastmen's gunmen, though no one actually saw him do that. It was just a rumor."

"Would you get to the point already?" Kamina chimed. Myla and Yoko both shot him with a look, and he huffily settled down. Simon couldn't blame him really; he was feeling anxious too, though for a completely different reason.

"Saburo set out with a team of bridge builders, and Linus tagged along of course. There was another person with them, a girl who was not a native to Cascade. I think…I can't remember her name, but she went with them. Linus really liked her, if I remember right…" Myla muttered this, failing to hide a small twinkle of distaste in her words.

For the next few weeks everyone in town could watch the supports slowly being built, the skeleton of the bridge coming together. Myla described the happiness lightening the town, how people were expectant and hopeful. This was their "second chance" at a comfortable life, and perhaps, their last chance as well.

"The bridge could not fail. It had to be ready for winter, and it seemed like it might just be finished in time." The gloomy look returned, foreshadowing disaster. "But one day we all awoke to fire on the horizon. Everyone ran to the observation decks, where we watched our precious bridge go up in flames and smoke. There was nothing we could do. By the end, the whole bridge was gone, as if it had never been. It was…devastating."

"It was only about three days later when someone found Linus on the street," she went on. "They thought he was dead. He didn't look like he had eaten in weeks, he was covered in cuts and gashes, and his left arm ended just above his elbow in bloody stump. They took him to the hospital, and the doctors did what they could, though there was no saving that arm. He slept for a month, never even opening his eyes."

Meanwhile the people of Cascade were thrown into despair. Simon could imagine how frightened they were, both of the winter and of whatever had destroyed their bridge. Myla said that they were sick with grief, and that they wanted something to explain it all. Someone to blame this disaster on.

"It started when Linus woke up," she murmured, looking at the boy unhappily. "He…would say things that no one understood. Sometimes he would shout and scream like something was hurting him, and he would argue to the air. Eventually we figured out that he was fighting with an imaginary Saburo."

"I hope you can understand how a town of desperate people could twist it all around. The rumors said that he had been angry at his own people for sending his father on a doomed mission, and that in retaliation he had brought the beastmen and their powerful gunmen here to destroy the bridge. There wasn't a person in this town who hadn't been impacted, so there were plenty of people looking for a scapegoat. I still can't believe they all bought that story. Linus couldn't defend himself anyhow. He was so broken up that he couldn't explain what had really happened, not to mention how physically weak he was from his wounds."

Yoko shifted on the bed where she sat. "You didn't believe Linus was guilty then, did you? You supported him, and that's why you're the only one who can calm him down from a fit, right?"

Myla nodded. "I will never believe that Linus was responsible. He's a good kid, and besides that the bridge to Paradise was Saburo's greatest dream. Linus adored Saburo, anyone could see that, and there is no way he would betray someone who was like a brother to him."

Simon suddenly sat upright as if he had been shocked. All his drifting thoughts seemed to connect together with those words, and after a few minutes he was sure that he had finally realized the answer to that elusive question. Why did Linus seem so familiar to him? He was sure he knew.

But everyone was still talking, and though the words were piling up behind his teeth, Simon could not speak. He willed them all to hurry up and finish before his triumphant deduction spilled out of his mind.

Finally, Linus began moaning in his sleep, and Myla broke off the conversation to comfort him, leaving Kamina and Yoko free to wander about the hospital. Simon snatched both of their arms and dragged them to the side, excitement making his hands like iron bands around their wrists. He had to tell them. It couldn't wait.

"What's the matter with you Simon?" Yoko grumbled, and gently twisted free of his grasp.

"I have to tell you something. It's really important!" He was nearly jumping in the air, so ready were the words. "Whenever I see Linus, I get this feeling, right? Like we know each other, but I can't remember where I would have seen him before. I can't really explain it, but it keeps happening over and over. I get this idea, like I'm supposed to know something, but…"

Kamina made a face, annoyed. "Huh? What are you saying, bro?"

Distressed, Simon hurriedly got to the point. "I just realized something when Myla was telling her story. The reason I feel like I know Linus, is because I am Linus."

The subsequent pause was heavy, and so quiet that the cricket in the corner could be heard singing its lonely tune.

"Uh…" Yoko hummed, looking at him with worry. "Could you run that by me again?"

"Yeah, waddya mean, you _are_ Linus?" Kamina asked skeptically. He didn't seem to like the idea. "Is this some kind of stupid riddle?"

"Just listen! Think about it!" Simon begged. "Our personalities are the same. We're both shy, and no one ever noticed us because we're so…you know…except then Linus met Saburo, and I met you, Bro! You and Saburo are the same! And Myla mentioned another girl that they teamed up with, just like we met Yoko."

They weren't buying it; he could see the doubt on their faces. Did they think he was crazy like Linus too? "The same kinds of things happened to me and Linus, and we act the same way. Don't you see? We're practically the same person!"

"Well," Yoko tried to laugh, "They do say everyone has a twin…"

Kamina rolled his eyes. "Come on Simon, do you even hear yourself? Saburo and I aren't the same, cus he's dead and I'm not and never will be! Besides, that Linus kid is wacko. You two aren't the same either."

"No!" Simon cried. "That's just it! I'll bet Linus was just like me before he went to Paradise. Whatever horrible things that happened there made him the way he is now. Losing all the people he loved made him crazy. But don't you get it? That's what he's been trying to say all along."

"No, I really don't get it," Kamina sighed.

Simon desperately glanced at Yoko, but she too was staring at him with confused eyes. He swallowed, an unwelcome lump appearing in his throat. This was so important. He had to make them understand.

"If…I were to lose you both…if you both died today along with all our other friends…I know that I would become just like Linus." He spoke slowly, partially out of emotion, and partially out of his need to understand the words coming out of his own mouth. "Myla said Linus and Saburo were like brothers. And whoever that girl was, she was close to them too. For all of them to die at once is what really made Linus crazy. He wants me to know that if I let that happen to you guys, I'll end up just like him."

Yoko's eyes were bright with sympathy, but even that could not mask her uncertainty. "Simon, I really think you might be over thinking this a little."

"I'm not over thinking anything! I _know_ this is important!"

"Well good," Kamina said mightily. "If it's important to you, then stand up for it with all you've got. But, remember this! There's no way you're going to go crazy, because none of us are going to die on you, not ever. Team Gurren protects their own, and we never leave a man behind!" He straightened and stretched his long arms. "Now, I'm starving. Let's go see if we can find something to eat around here."


	8. One Man's Dream, Another Man's Nightmare

**~~~*** Okay, I guess you can think of this as a pre-Turkey Day gift (for those of us who celebrate Thanksgiving), from me to you. It's extra long! Yay! Sorry, I had to do something to keep myself entertained while waiting for my various research sites to load. What's that you say? I could be studying? I'm sorry, I don't know the meaning of this word "sta-dee". I'm only in college. Am I supposed to know everything? Please everyone? I'll be lucky to please anyone. ;)**

**Enjoy the chapter already (it's kinda strange). Have a good holiday my American readers, and lots of love to everyone else too. You're all sensational. See ya soon. ***~~~**

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**Chapter Eight**

**One Man's Dream, Another Man's Nightmare**

Once night hours began, the nurses informed Simon and the others that they had to leave the hospital. Simon watched glumly as the lights in Linus' room were clicked off, one by one until he lay alone in the darkness, supposedly sleeping with the aid of a strong sedative. Then the door was closed, and everyone walked away.

"Do you three have a place to spend the night?" Myla asked as they stepped outside.

"No,"Yoko said. "We've kinda been banned from the inn, and I don't think any of these townspeople would take us now. We must have a pretty bad reputation with these people by now."

Myla shrugged. "Don't mind them. They're all just tired. Tired of the fight, if you know what I mean. You can stay the night at my house." She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I've got some spare beds."

It wasn't until he lay down that Simon truly felt the power of his exhaustion. He may have been sharing a too small mattress with Kamina and a host of bed bugs, but sleep came readily despite any discomfort. He closed his eyes and counted his breaths to disperse his clamorous thoughts and calm his mind; one . . . two. . . three. . .

* * *

The next morning was cold, and grey. Outside the air was still, protected from the winds by the stone walls, though Simon could not shake the feeling of death it gave him from his shoulders. He was reluctant to talk to Kamina or Yoko, not when they likely suspected he was a little loose in the head after his revelation the night before. The sun rose above, but Myla's home was still buried in shadows. Simon noted this, and sighed as he put his head on his knees.

Breakfast was hot on plates, but quickly cooling by the time Kamina stomped downstairs. Myla had already said her goodbyes and left to see to her errands for the day. Yoko sat at the table, stirring her porridge and staring out the kitchen window.

"What have we got to eat?" Kamina said droopily. He looked like he was still asleep. "Muck? That all?"

"Better than nothing," Yoko snapped. "We're should be grateful that Myla sparred this much. Sit down and eat."

"Well now I don't want to, you made me feel so guilty."

"Shut up." She rubbed her eyes and stuffed her spoon between her lips defiantly. She grimaced, and swallowed.

Kamina grunted and looked around. "Simon lets go, come on."

Simon lifted his head, curious, and said, "Where are we going?"

"To talk to Linus again before those jerks get to him. He still hasn't told us jack about Paradise, the squirmy little nutcase."

"You still want to go to Paradise?" Yoko sounded astonished. "Kamina, we really should be leaving, don't you think? We've caused so much trouble. . ."

"Exactly," he retorted, "but I've gotta find out what's going on with this Paradise place. After all we've heard, aren't you dying to go there?"

"Well . . ."

Simon opened the front door, eager to check on Linus now that the night had passed. "Do you think there're gunmen there, Kamina?"

Grinning, Kamina strutted out the door and onto the street, clutching his cape over his shoulders to dismiss at least some of the chill. "We're not gonna know 'til we go there, are we? Come on already!"

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Linus stared, his black eyes small on his moon white face. "You actually _want_ to go to Paradise? Are you insane?"

Simon, Kamina and Yoko lined the side of his bed, flanking him so that all he could see were their bodies standing there, towering over him like a wall.

"Course we wanna go! Damn it, we'll go today! Right this minute!" Kamina made a fist and raised it to the ceiling, displaying his determination. "You just gotta tell us what you know about the place! How do we get to the top?"

Linus was unimpressed. "I won't tell you. You're all going to die if you go there."

"Like Hell!"

"Oh cut the tough guy crap, would you?" Linus growled. "It's not like your pride will help you stay alive for any longer than the dozens of other people who've tried. I swear, none of you will make it half way up that mountain before your blood is spilling over the ice. Don't even try."

Simon gulped, surprised at how bitter Linus was acting. His eyes were swollen, his complexion pale and his overall manner diseased. Perhaps he hadn't slept well.

Kamina ground his teeth, fuming. "You! Little spit! Who the HELL do you think I am! I can climb your stupid mountain blindfolded! Watch me!"

"You're asking for it, you idiot! You have no idea what you're in for up there!"

"Then tell us, please!" Simon interjected abruptly, afraid that a fight was about to start.

Linus turned, looking wounded as if he had been struck. When he didn't speak, Kamina furiously shouted at him, leaning in over the bed to look the small boy in the eye. Linus shrank back, receiving every word with a blank, desolate expression. Still, he refused to answer.

Finally Yoko managed to tug Kamina away, and lead him out of the room to cool off. Simon remained by the bed, staring sadly at his friend. Linus pinched his eyes shut and held his head with his one hand, bending his knees up to his chest.

"Are you 'going back' again?" Simon asked.

"What?"

"Yesterday, one of the nurses said you had 'gone back', after that officer. . . said that name. You freaked out."

Linus chewed his lip, subtly rocking his weight back and forth. He whispered, "I don't remember."

"I didn't think you would. You weren't yourself," Simon muttered. He crossed the room and lifted a chair, carrying it over to the bed side. He sat down and brought his own knees up to rest his chin upon.

A long moment passed before either of them spoke. At last, Linus shuttered out a sigh. "I miss them," he said. "Saburo. . . and Tomiko, and. . . all the others."

"I'm sorry," Simon said.

"Yeah," he breathed. "I wish I could say that now."

"Why shouldn't we go to Paradise?"

"The cold, the snowstorms will kill you before you even get there."

"There's more than that," Simon returned. "The snowstorms didn't chew your arm off."

Linus frowned. Simon didn't allow his cold gaze to flicker, keeping it locked on his friend like a vice until he got what he wanted.

Buckling a little, Linus said, "Beasts. . ."

"Beastmen?"

"Not. . .exactly, no. More like monsters. . ."

"What kind of monsters?" Simon pressed.

Linus made an angry face and shook his head. "No. I'm not doing this. I don't want you to go to Paradise, Simon. I won't be able to live with myself if you do."

"Then come with us! You're miserable here, why do you stay?"

Tightlipped, Linus rolled over and yanked the blanked up over his head. Simon stood up and jerked it back.

"This isn't a joke! Linus, tell me—" He stopped. "Tell me. . . what were you friend's names?"

The question was odd, and had it's desired effect. Linus looked up from the corner of his eyes, confused. Simon repeated himself, gentler this time. "What were their names? Saburo and. . .?"

". . .Tomiko," he whispered quietly. "Saburo and Tomiko."

"Right. Tomiko and Saburo. Saburo and Tomiko, got it." Nodding, Simon quietly turned and departed from the hospital room, leaving Linus wondering what he was up to.

Not long after word, one of the nurses entered the room with a cup of pills for Linus to swallow. He always felt drowsy after downing the medication, and soon fell asleep, his thoughts still twirling around Paradise, Saburo, and Simon's strange question.

The thoughts filled his dreams, dancing in manifested images behind his eyes. He saw many faces swirl in a swift flowing tide all around him, the waves tugging at his emotions, rising and falling with each sorrowful thump of his heart. Troubled, Linus mentally tried to escape the teasing eyes of his friends, the horror of their blue-lipped smiles and the groping of their cold, lifeless hands.

As he fled, footprints left black smudges on the floor. He paused to look back, and watched in terror as the simple scuffs began to spread wide, like the gaping jaws of a monster under his feet.

Blackness enveloped him, and he descended into a vast nothingness. Here all seemed to slumber, resting in silence that swallowed sound, in dark that covered light. Here Linus wandered for some time, fear growing in his heart all the while. He wondered if he could ever find comfort, if he could find even the smallest fleck of happiness even in his dreams. Or was his whole life to be a blackened pit, scorched through with guilt, forever and always?

At length he came upon a solitary door made of wood. Nothing showed on either side save the black expanse, and nothing supported it in front or behind. The door seemed to exist of its own accord, and Linus had the oddest feeling that the simple wooden gateway had _chosen_ to present itself to him. Such was the odd nature of dreams, he supposed.

He opened the door and peered inside. Candlelight tinted his skin orange, and the merry warmth of a fire lapped at his body. The sensation pleased him greatly, and he stepped over the threshold.

Inside he was confronted with an arresting sight. A fireplace adorned the far wall of what appeared to be a bar, or a tavern. A long table was set in the middle of the room, the air aglow in light, the walls furnished with vaulting shadows cast by the fire. Around the table sat a large group of very familiar people, all those who had embarked on the second journey to Paradise, endeavoring to construct the bridge that would be Cascade's salvation.

Linus felt his stomach tighten painfully, as if he had swallowed a large stone. Saburo sat at the head of the table, his face lit with a smile, his large eyes glowing. At his right was Tomiko, smiling also. Both of them seemed completely whole, as if they were alive and well, celebrating with the others.

Grief was like a bitter acid in Linus' throat. His eyes blurred with tears, his spirit shriveling with sadness to see his friends in this way, to see them happy, when he knew their true fate. At first, he could only think what a cruel dream this was.

"Linus!" Saburo cried. "We were wondering where you got off to. We've made a decision, all of us. Hurry up and sit down!"

Linus opened his mouth, but something deep within seemed to be opposing speech. He could not think of a word to say. How nice it was to see Saburo again, to hear his voice as it had been. For a while he had feared that he had forgotten how Saburo sounded, what he looked like. Perhaps. . .

"Sit here, Linus," Tomiko chimed. "Next to me, hurry up!"

Afraid he would crumple into dust if he moved, Linus hesitated. Then, overpowering desire compelled him to walk forward, all the way to the head of the table where the warmth of the fire could be felt the strongest. He slowly took the seat next to Tomiko, joy at seeing her warring with horrific memories in his heart, making him dizzy.

"So listen," Saburo went on. "We all decided this a minute ago. Going to Paradise is important to all of us, right? Really important, life and death important. So here's the climax! The great resolution! We all decided to dedicate our _lives_ to this journey. . ."

Linus felt as if a weight had been dropped on his head. "Your. . .lives?"

"That's it! We're putting our lives on the table now, to swear that we'll see this through no matter what." Saburo grinned, proud and strong. "If we have to, we'll die for this. We decided together."

The words were allowed to sit in the air, untouched, for a long time. Everyone seemed to expect Linus to say something, to jump on board in gleeful abandon. He could only stare, heartbroken.

"So, what do you say Linus? Will you put your life on the table too?" Tomiko asked. Her sweetness was like a slap of sunlight. Linus gulped.

"I—I don't. . ." He shuttered, every inch of his body beginning to shake. "I don't want. . . to _die_."

A dozen sets of eyes fixed on him, all stern now, joyless. Saburo was worst of all. In his face Linus could see only confusion forming, a sad look of disappointment blooming where it did not belong. Of course, if anyone should agree with Saburo, it must be his beloved friend Linus. Surely, Linus would agree. Saburo looked as if he had been betrayed.

"So, what would you offer then?" he demanded indignantly. "Only a limb? Your arm? Is that all you're willing to pay? This is Paradise, this is the dream! My Dream! You would pay so little for my dream?"

"Pay?" Linus squeaked. He stood up, hot tears spilling from his eyes and smacking the table. "I paid already! I paid when I watched you all die! I paid in pain, and in fear and nightmares! You were the lucky ones, to escape all of the mess you left behind. Don't say I didn't pay as much as you! If anything I paid more!"

It seemed the entire group had stopped listening. They froze, stuck as if their stores of energy had died in that moment, immobilizing them. Linus stood amongst them, knees, fingers, and lips all shaking to their own erratic rhythm. Saburo's face stuck in his mind, the sight of his agnuish haunted him; such a deep look of disappointment none could ever render again.

Linus awoke gasping on sobs, choking on dust. He lurched up and bashed his head on something hard. Frightened and confused, he wailed out loud and flattened himself to the floor, grimacing as the chill dragged any warmth he had out of his body. Realizing he had no idea where he was, he began to panic.

Darkness lay both above and below, penetrated only by slices of white light on the sides. Even as Linus tried to focus and orient himself, his head grew light and blood screamed through his head like the wind. He thought he would vomit.

The sound of feet sliding quickly on the tiles alerted him. He saw, through the right strip of light, a pair of shoes run toward his hiding place, pause, and then dash quickly from side to side, as if searching for something. Searching for him.

"Linus?" said Simon's voice, muffled but shrill with alarm. "Damn it! Damn it! Where is he?"

_Simon?_ Linus hastily crawled toward his friend's shoes, emerging into the light too fast for his eyes to adjust. "Simon! I'm right here!"

He heard a cry, and then an instant later arms grabbed him around his shoulders, throwing him backwards. Blinded, he could only hear Simon mumbling hysterically by his ear, sounding annoyingly like a worried mother.

"Where the hell have you been, Linus? Everyone is worried out of their minds! We've been looking for you for _hours!"_

"Hours?" Linus blinked several times. Slowly, a large hospital room, filled with beds like the one he had been sleeping in for the past few days came into sight. Only, this wasn't the room he had been staying in. When had they moved him?

"How'd you get all the way up here?" Simon asked. "This room is a floor above yours. Why'd you come up here?"

"I. . .I don't know," he stammered. "I don't remember going anywhere. I just fell asleep in my bed. . .and I woke up here. . ." He frowned, locking pieces together. "You were really worried about me, weren't you? Did you think I was lost?"

"We _thought_ some of the townspeople had kidnapped you," Simon snapped. "You have no idea how pissed everyone is that the hospital is keeping you so long. They're ready to riot, and then I come in to check on you, and you're gone! What were we supposed to think? How should we know you were hiding under a bed?"

"I—I –I. . ."

Simon sighed, his smile returning. "You look awful Linus. Come on, let's go back downstairs. Everyone will be glad to see you in once piece."

They stood up, Simon leading the way out of the room and to the stairs. Linus trailed behind, shuffling forward like a ghost. Half way down the stairs, he stopped.

"Simon," he said. The other boy turned around to look at him.

"Yeah?"

Linus hesitated, memories of his dream, of his past also, bubbling in his mind relentlessly. He closed his eyes. "If you want to go to Paradise that bad. . .I'll take you. It's best if you have someone who has an idea of what we'll be up against. We should leave, tomorrow at dawn."


	9. The Battering Ram

******** This chapter is a bit longer than the others, but only because it's leading up to some more exciting parts of the story later. I just finished final exams, so I now have a boatload of free time (well...maybe not a _boatload,_ exactly), to do things like write and read fanfiction! So yes, ZARU I will try to continue on your stories sometime soon, so you can stop asking. I've just been busy.

Anyway, its questionable if I will continue to draw illustrations for this story. I can only think of one or two things that may lend themselves to an interesting drawing, but I'll only do that if anyone wants to see them. Let me know, because I'd rather not waste my time.

Also, as a last note, this (and the other story I'm working on for Avatar: TLA) will probably be the last fanfiction I write on this website. I will continue to write, but not fanfictions (so, naturally, I can't post them here. Haha.) If you would like to know more, I may post something in the next chapter, but otherwise you can send me a message, or do nothing at all, which is also fine.

So, see ya soon! ********

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**Chapter 9**

**The Battering Ram**

Agreeing to a journey to Paradise in Kamina's presence was like dropping a lit torch on a barrel of gunpowder. The moment Linus mentioned his plans the volatile man whooped aloud and jumped up so high the arches of his upraised knuckles nearly touched the ceiling. His excitement could hardly be called contagious however. Yoko and Simon were rightly nervous, though they left their misgivings unspoken.

Linus meanwhile became stolid as a wall. He was inwardly and outwardly impassive, even when Kamina lifted him off the floor in an unwarranted bear hug, and remained so throughout all the preparations. He wouldn't even look at Simon. The only noises out of his mouth were unintelligible mumblings as he stared at the expanse of snow outside the town, brooding restlessly whenever he thought no one was watching.

The small group departed the ominous streets of Cascade while the moon was still high. They had not told Myla of their intentions, mostly because no one cared for her to interfere. Kamina anyway seemed ready to march across the snow that very hour, no matter what anyone said or did to stop him.

"Wait 'til you see our gunmen," Simon teased Linus as they walked slowly to the gates of the town. "Gurren and Lagann are amazing. You'll have to ride in the transport carriage with the other luggage, since there's no room inside the cockpits for two people, but Yoko will keep you company."

Linus may have nodded, but the movement was so slight Simon wondered if he had seen it at all. He turned away uncomfortably. These drastic mood swings of Linus' were difficult to predict and to cope with at times. Reverting to anger as Kamina did was clearly unproductive. Shouting only convinced Linus to sink farther into himself, which was both unhelpful and upsetting to watch. Simon had to remind himself that patience had worked well so far.

Even so, walking into the abandoned park where the gunmen were hidden, their war-like faces shining in the glare of moonlight, an expression Simon had never seen before melted the hard features of Linus' face. The scraggly boy froze the second he saw the mechas. His small mouth dropped open, and slowly his lips pulled up until he was grinning unabashedly, his eyes stretched wide as if he hoped that would help him see more.

"Cool huh?" Yoko laughed.

Linus chuckled, and for once it sounded normal. "They're awesome. Better than any of the gunmen the beastmen bring around. Where did you find these things?"

"I dug mine out of the ground," Simon said. "And Kamina stole his."

Linus laughed some more, and suddenly he was as chatty as a school boy as Simon showed him around the cockpit of Lagann. Kamina, impatient as always, took control of Gurren and threatened to smash the boys with the machine's massive palms if they didn't get their butts in gear.

Linus stepped back and stuck his hand into his pocket. "I guess you'll need this back," he said, producing the core drill, still strung on its thin chain. Simon saw it and seemed surprised; clearly he had forgotten Linus still had it.

"Hey! How long has that been in your pocket, kid?" Kamina's voice echoed out of the large gunmen, shrill and irritated.

Linus shrugged. "A while. I wasn't going to lose it, if that's what you're thinking dough-head."

"Shut your flap, squirt! So you're a thief and a freak now! I see your true colors!"

"Better a freak than a loudmouth," Linus whispered to Simon, and then walked quietly with Yoko to the transport carriage hitched to Gurren's back.

As the journey began Linus was sure that Kamina was purposefully driving his gunmen recklessly, just to make the ride wilder for him and Yoko. Frightened, but unwilling to show it, Linus tucked himself into a corner of the carriage where he wouldn't be jostled so violently.

"So," Yoko started, hoping to pass the time with conversation, "what kinds of things do you like to do, Linus?"

"Huh?" he frowned. That type of self-involved question was completely foreign, and he wasn't sure how to answer. "What. . .do I like to do?"

"Yeah, what are your hobbies?"

The frown relaxed, and then returned a moment later as Linus thought the question over. "I. . .I don't know. I don't really have time for hobbies."

"Of course you do!" Yoko insisted. "There must be something you do for fun! What are you good at?"

"I can run fast," he offered expectantly.

She shook her head. "What else?"

For a brief second Linus seemed embarrassed. Finally he said, "I used to draw a lot."

"Really?" Yoko said, seeming genuinely interested at last.

Encouraged, Linus went on. "I used to draw buildings that I wanted to live in. Saburo. . .was always bringing me more paper even though it's so hard to find. He kept all my drawings, even the ones I never finished and wanted to throw away."

"Sounds like you two were best friends," Yoko murmured. Linus blushed under her shining gaze. She reminded him so much of Tomiko it was almost painful to meet her eyes. Thankfully the shade of the carriage hid his face well, and Yoko could not see his discomfort. "It must have been fun to go on an adventure together," she said.

"Not really," Linus replied gloomily. "Everything was fine until we went to Paradise."

Now Yoko was the one to blush. "Oh, I'm sorry. . . I forgot for a minute. I hardly ever hear you talk about Saburo without. . .you know. . ."

"Without having a breakdown?" he laughed, not unhappily, and shook his head. "Paradise was only the last straw. On the way there I found out a lot of things I wish I had never known."

Yoko blinked. Linus saw the glint in her eyes and wished he hadn't said so much. Yoko seemed to be warring with her desire to be polite, and her desire to take the bait Linus had so temptingly laid out. She struggled for a few moments, but in the end courtesy lost despairingly.

"What. . . kinds of things?" she asked.

Linus glanced at her, his solitary hand suddenly clenched.

_Because you are my very own, and that's all I want to say about it._

"Just. . .things. I guess we didn't know each other like we thought we did," he said softly.

Yoko was staring at him as if she had just walked out of a desert, and Linus was standing between her and a fountain of cool water. She was dying for more information.

_You're one of us now. Our ally, our comrade._

"T-Tomiko. . ." Linus breathed, remembering the girl's courageous face, seeing it reflected in Yoko too well. "She was h-having a hard time. . ." his voice was shaking slightly, and his stomach felt as if it were trying to digest poison. "And . . . and Saburo acted like nothing was wrong. . ."

_Why do you put on this act? You have no idea how much it will _hurt.._._

Linus looked at his fingers and was horrified to see that they were shaking. His memories were reemerging again, surfacing like planks of rotten driftwood in a pool. He told himself to stop talking, to shut his mouth now before he delved too deeply into the past.

This wasn't the past after all. This was his chance to set everything right.

_Stop talking…_ he thought again. But it was useless; revealing his experiences to Yoko was a thorny exercise, but soothing at the same time. She'd asked, hadn't she?

Just as he opened his mouth to say more, the carriage jerked forward in and abrupt stop that slammed Linus into the wall. Yoko was smacked on her head by a falling bag, and she sat up cursing Kamina and tenderly prodding her new bruise.

"Damn it Kamina!" she screamed upwards, though Linus doubted the sound of her exclamations reached very far. The full force of the plain's snowstorms was upon them now, twisting screeching winds and cold snow above their heads. The noise of it was as unsettling as the cold was uncomfortable.

Bristling with irritation, Yoko fumbled with what looked to Linus to be a sort of radio. With her cold hands she set the ear bud in place by her temple, and tilted the small microphone toward her mouth. "What are you doing, you idiot?" she snapped, apparently speaking to Kamina. "You almost smashed us!"

Suddenly Yoko's angry mask dropped into surprise. Linus watched her curiously with a fearful tightening in his stomach. He listened eagerly, finding himself in the same position Yoko had been in only a few moments before: thirsting for information.

"If it looks like junk, why did you stop?" She paused, listening, frowning as Kamina tried to explain himself. He was shouting so loud, with such dynamism, that Linus could hear mangled bits of his sentences even without the ear bud.

"Alright, we're coming." Yoko turned to Linus, all anger sliding off her face when she looked at him. "Kamina says there's a gunmen sticking out of the snow outside. He wants you to look at it."

The last statement was more like a tentative question, as if Yoko was not absolutely sure Linus would obey Kamina's order. Linus shrugged, and stood up shakily.

The wind was like the blades of knives cutting across Linus' face when he poked his head outside. For the first few moments he couldn't see anything ahead of him in the snow, and wondered angrily if this was all some mean joke Kamina had devised. He felt Yoko move behind him. She was silent, searching also, but probably finding nothing.

The snowstorm lessened for an instant, as if the wind was pausing for breath, and in the seconds that the snow settled, Linus spotted the gunmen. It was only a few yards away, sunken in the snowdrifts so deep that only the grinning face showed through.

Linus felt a wash of coldness streak down his spine, a rush colder than the gnawing winds. He recognized the face on the gunmen.

_-designed it myself-_

"What do you think, Linus?" Yoko asked. "It's kind of funny looking, huh? Have you ever seen it before?"

He hesitated, and then turned to face Yoko so that his voice would not be ripped away by the wind. "It's the Battering Ram," he shouted. "Saburo's gunmen."

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Saburo had never looked so proud. The gunmen was displayed in the middle of the room, held up by wooden supports directly under the lamplights. Its polished metal seemed to glow even in the dark basement. The face adorning its front gazed at Linus with a freakish grin, as if it were laughing at him._

_Linus didn't know what to say. He was stunned._

"_What is it?" Tomiko asked coolly. Linus found her tone strange; perhaps, for some unnatural reason she wasn't as impressed as he was._

"_I call it the Battering Ram," Saburo said. "It's a flying gunmen. I designed it myself you know."_

_Tomiko cast him a humorous look. "I can see that. This is nothing like the Beastmen use. It's so… small."_

"_Size is nothing compared to power," he told her. "When the time comes this beauty will shine so bright the sun will be jealous. It's faster than the wind, stronger than any stone, and far more valiant than any of those piles of junk the beastmen tout around."_

_Tomiko was still unconvinced. She smoothed her straight locks away from her face and leaned in to examine the mecha more closely. "How did you get all the parts to fit together?"_

_For a moment, Saburo's beaming grin faltered. "Well. . . I . . .Honestly, they all kind of. . .fit on their own. Like they were always meant to be together."_

"_But you stole all the parts for this thing from different gunmen," Tomiko said. "Why would they all fit?"_

"_How should I know? The nature of gunmen is to combine anyway, right?" He laughed, a new thought occurring to him. "With this we'll reach Paradise in a few hours, tops. There's room for you, me, and Linus altogether—"_

"_Wait," Tomiko stopped him. "You're bringing him with us?"_

_For the first time durning the conversation Linus looked away from the rectangular flight deck of the Battering Ram. He saw Saburo frown at Tomiko, as if she had just insulted him._

"_Of course he's coming. Why not?"_

"_Because it's dangerous," Tomiko retorted immediately. She seemed unable to believe that Saburo had not realized this fact. "Linus could be hurt, or worse."_

_Saburo took a long time to answer. Linus knew him well enough to see when he was getting angry, though usually it took far more than a simple comment to spark his temper. Passionate as he was, Saburo was practically the definition of "slow to anger."_

"_I'll be watching him the entire time," he informed Tomiko sharply. "Nothing is going to happen to him."_

"_Just like nothing happened to his father, or all of those other people who left for Paradise last year?"_

_Linus felt his jaw drop. The look of injured surprise on Saburo's face probably matched Linus' own expression perfectly. Had Tomiko really just said that?_

_Even though Linus and Saburo were staggered, Tomiko appeared perfectly rational. "You must believe that there is something dangerous out there," she whispered. "And I'm not talking about snowstorms."_

_Saburo narrowed his eyes, his slender arms folding across his chest in defense. "We're not talking about this now. Linus won't be left here all by himself while we're gone. I can protect-"_

"_No, you can't," Tomiko nearly shouted. This was the first time Linus had ever seen her like this. Cold fury stirred in her eyes. Her cheeks were pale, and her small hands were clenching tightly into hard fists by her sides. She was distraught, maybe even ready to fight Saburo over the argument. "You can't protect him from everything! Just ask me how I know!"_

_Saburo's frown was dark, shadowing his usually bright eyes. "Is something else going on with you?" he wondered. "I think we need to talk about this somewhere else…" he glanced suggestively at Linus, as if Linus were the problem. _

_Tomiko chuckled bleakly and shook her head. Linus heard her sniff and wondered if she were trying not to cry. He couldn't imagine what had brought this fit on so suddenly. _

"_You don't know what you're talking about," she said. "You don't understand what you're risking at all."_

"_I'm not _risking_ anything," Saburo replied warningly. _

"_Why do you put on this act?" She bit right back, her anger just as fierce as his. "You don't get it! You don't understand anything! You have no idea how much it will _hurt_ if Linus dies-"_

"_Don't you dare say that!" Saburo shouted. He pushed himself away from the wall he had been leaning on and advanced toward Tomiko, palpable anger snapping off him like sparks. "Don't say that damn crap in front of him! I won't lose Linus or anyone else! By your logic, you shouldn't come either, because it's so dangerous and you might _die_!"_

"_Then why are you letting me come?"_

"_Because you're one of us now!" Saburo burst out. "Our ally! Our comrade! I trust you and you trust me, and as long as we stay strong nothing can happen! I won't leave _anyone_ behind!"_

_Tomiko sighed, furious, and backed away. Without a second glance she turned and stalked toward the stairs, disappearing with rhythmic stomps of her boots._

_Saburo stood where he was for a while even after she left. Linus nervously watched him, then looked at his hands, afraid that his friend would start shouting again. After a few minutes, however, Saburo seemed to have calmed down. He was unusually quiet as he tinkered with The Battering Ram's frame, checking to be sure it was stable. When he spoke to Linus it was only in a gentle voice, smiling at him multiple times even when Linus hadn't done anything worth smiling over._

_Though it was unclear what Saburo was really thinking about, Linus was troubled considerably by what Tomiko had said. When he couldn't stand his friend's exaggerated friendliness any longer, Linus looked up and said, "You know, I really don't mind staying here while you and the others go to Paradise."_

_Saburo stopped what he was doing, his polishing rag poised over the face on the end of his beloved gunmen. He stood up slowly, a glint in his eye that frightened Linus and made him wish he hadn't said anything at all._

_But instead of breaking out in a furious rage, Saburo merely dropped the rag on the flight deck and sighed. He walked slowly toward Linus and sat down next to him, close enough that their shoulders touched. He laughed softly, with what seemed like more than a bit of sadness._

"_There were a lot of people in this town who told me I had made a bad decision adopting you," he said. "They told me I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I made a promise when I signed those papers; that I would never leave you, or let you go hungry or hurt you in any way, no matter what it cost me. It was a promise that I wouldn't break for anything. So," he grinned and patted Linus' head fondly, "wherever I go, you go too. Because you are my very own, and that's all I want to say about it."_

_He stood up again, picked up his rag and began to polish the gunmen silently, not speaking again until several hours later._


	10. The Devil Came

**** Time for an update, and this one is a bit more exciting, just for a change. I'm estimating something like 14 chapters, give or take, to wrap us up, and an Epilogue if you ask nicely. I've got something extra planned for the end, but it's the equivalent of a deleted scene for a movie. It's not pivotal, so I'd like to know if you'd even want to read it. We'll see how you feel in 4 chapters. :)

No illustration. Maybe next time, if I can somehow motivate myself. Also, sorry for any typos or mix-ups you may have seen as I posted this the first two times. A simple issue of saving incorrectly, but I'm sure I've fixed it now. That's all, so enjoy and I'll see ya soon! ****

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Chapter Ten

**The Devil Came**

With Lagann's powerful mechanical arms, and Gurren's fanatical drilling, wrenching The Battering Ram free of the snow took only a few minutes. Kamina was, once again, tremendously excited as Linus and Yoko brushed the snow off the flight deck, and he actually crawled out of his gunmen to have a look at the new machine himself.

"Does it really fly?" he asked.

Linus shrugged. "It used to. It's been sitting here since the crash, buried in snow, so I'm not sure how well it works anymore."

"Nothing for it then, but to give it a try!" Kamina crouched down to examine the long, rectangular shape of the gunmen, as if searching the many buttons and knobs at its head for an "on" switch.

"You have to stand on the deck to turn it on," Linus told him. Instantly Kamina jumped up on the top of the machine, now standing a few feet taller than everyone else, and looked around expectantly. Nothing happened.

"Now what?"

"Well. . ." Linus frowned, slightly self-conscious. "When Saburo used it, all he had to do was stand on the deck and it would turn on. He only let me ride with him, so I have no idea how to drive it."

Simon knelt by the mecha and picked a chunk of ice from the metal seam. "Maybe he was the only one who _could_ drive it."

"Maybe," Yoko agreed. "Linus, why don't you try?"

Reluctantly, Kamina stepped down, an eager light in his eyes. Linus glanced uncomfortably at him, but the man only grinned back. "Go on," he said, "I want to see this damn thing fly already!"

Cowed into obedience, Linus moved onto the flight deck and positioned his feet the way he had seen Saburo do the last time they had been together. It was striking how small Linus was, how disproportionate he seemed on top of the large mecha. At least when Saburo had stood there, he had looked like he belonged. The gunmen had been the perfect size for Saburo, but to Linus it looked as if he was standing on the back of a giant three times his size.

"A-alright…" he stammered. "I remember . . .S-Saburo would put his heel. . .somewhere right. . .here. . ."  
It was an odd reach, but Linus managed to press his heel into an area on the far right side of the deck. At the touch a small white light sparked under his feet, a fractured streak that zipped from one pointed end of the frame to the other.

"That's something!" Simon said encouragingly. "What'd he do next?"

Without answering, Linus slid his heel backwards. Several satisfying clicking sounds followed the movement, and by the time his foot had returned to its original stance, a low hum had started somewhere inside the machine.

Linus laughed, his heart thrumming strongly in his chest. Slowly, he shifted his weight back and forth, up and down, and in response the entire gunmen shook itself side to side. The hum grew louder, until it became a continuous, harmonious note that cut the icy air and challenged the din of the winds.

"I thought you said you didn't know how to drive this thing," Kamina said, not unkindly. He was grinning just as much as Linus.

The flight deck flashed obscure numbers and patterns, apparently assessing its new rider's mass and anatomy. Its responses became progressively more synchronized to Linus' movements, its calculations running like a river across the glowing surface of the deck.

"_Unlocking Power Invintory__. . ."_ Simon read off the deck, the glow painting his face an odd blue color. "_38%_. What's that mean?"

Linus shrugged. He glanced at the dozens of flashing lights under his feet, displaying symbols in red or green that meant nothing to him. He suspected that Saburo knew what all the pictures indicated, but such knowledge was lost to Linus completely. He was grateful that the mecha even turned on.

Even with deficient understanding eventually Linus had divined how to lift The Battering Ram off the ground, and it hovered several inches from the snow, much to his companion's delight.

"Awesome!" Simon cheered. "It does still work! Try flying it around some!"

Leaning his weight forward, Linus was able to encourage the gunmen onward. He only had to move a fraction to increase the speed, and with only a small amount of pressure on his leading foot the mecha was speeding over the snow at a surprisingly fast pace.

All maneuvers, he discovered fairly quickly, were instituted entirely by body position. The flight deck seemed able to read his movement precisely, and the slightest shift in weight caused the machine to react, either by turning, lifting or diving. Because of this astonishing accuracy, flying The Battering Ram became second nature in a matter of minutes. Almost as effortlessly as walking, Linus was intuitively able to steer around and over large snow drifts, soon performing dramatic twists and barrel rolls with fantastic ease.

He returned to the small huddle his friends and their gunmen had made, descending gracefully back onto the ground among lauding shouts and exalting praise from Simon and Yoko. Kamina stood by, smiling smugly, no less impressed.

"You want to go for a ride?" Linus offered to no one in particular. "There's plenty of room! Come on!"

Encouraged by this uncalled-for burst of exuberance in his friend, Simon was the first to agree. He had to lay flat on his stomach near the head of the mecha so that he wouldn't be in the way of Linus' feet, but from there he still had an excellent view, and the comfort of hand grips to prevent a fall.

As soon as Simon was ready, Linus lifted The Battering Ram and rocketed forward. Simon let out a cry of surprise, amazed by the speed of the flight, and had to quickly drag his goggles down his forehead to cover his eyes from the surge of cold wind.

The flight was smooth, comfortable even when Linus flipped the mecha into skyscraping loops and constricted corkscrew turns. Simon laughed as his stomach dropped again, his entire body lifting a few inches off the deck as The Battering Ram plummeted from a tall climb into a steep dive.

"Let's try going higher!" Linus shouted. Simon barely heard him as the air tore past his ears, but he nodded excitedly anyway.

Linus leaned the farthest foreword he had yet reached, pushing his gunmen to a thrilling speed. The snow below them rippled and surged as they flashed over it, silent as their dark shadow racing along the ground beneath. Still soaring straight, Linus abruptly jerked the Battering Ram upwards into a vertical climb, shooting towards the sun as if he aimed to bash the mecha's grinning face into the star's core.

The already freezing air cooled, becoming thin and dry. In a matter of seconds Linus and Simon were so high that the snowy ground below appeared as one giant white page, blank of smudges or marks. Above the rage of the snowstorms, the world was icy and quiet. The Battering Ram leveled flat, hovering in empty sky.

"It's incredible," Simon said. "Kamina would love this! You'll have to drive him next!"

Linus smiled lightly, his focus elsewhere. He gazed around, fixating on the pointed mountains that wrinkled the horizon, lit in orange sunlight. Along the icy waste he could spot ribbons of snow, dancing on flurries of wind and skipping across the ice like guests at some wintery ball. The ground was frozen hard, and even though only air and wind separated Linus from a mortal fall, he felt completely secure. Standing so high, a speck in the endless open heavens, he knew he was safe, more than he had been in his entire life.

If Simon hadn't been with him, Linus wondered if he would ever choose to touch ground again.

Simon too, had been scanning the plane. Silhouetted against the far snow drifts, he could see an odd, hour glass-shaped mountain.

"Is that Paradise?" he asked, pointing toward the peak.

Linus felt his rapture flicker, and turned to look. "Yes, that's it. Hasn't changed much really. I kind of thought it would look different."

"What's it like?" Simon rasped. The air had parched his throat and tongue, making speech difficult.

For a few moments Linus seemed to struggle with and explanation. At last he shrugged. "I'll just show you."

First, the Battering Ram dived a little, searching for warmer air, but Linus maintained a lofty height as he sped toward the mountain. Slowly it grew, as did the massive pillars of ice and snow that had collected around its base. Even as high as they flew, Simon was sure that some of the great mounds stood yet taller. He could only guess how they had formed, and suspected that with hundreds of years of tearing winds pushing and chilling the snow, the pillars must be rock hard.

Soon enough Paradise was no longer a misshapen mass in the distance, but a visible mountain, now within reach. Linus slowed into an easy drift, allowing time for a prolonged examination of every boulder and crevice. Thousands of jagged rocks pointed upwards to the great height of the mountain, providing an irregular pathway to the peak. He remembered following Saburo, clambering from one toothed rock to the next, camping under broad overhangs or inside caves. The accent had encompassed three entire days. The ice mounds and the taller stones at the base had sheltered the travelers from snowstorms, but the journey had been slow and strenuous even then. That was, even without the added burdens of discord and division in the party.

A bright flash shook all of Linus' memories away. He followed the spark, catching movement along the north face. His stomach dropped, even though The Battering Ram had not dipped down. He was sure the flash had come from sunlight snagging on metal, and he searched all around the near-by rocks for any other shifting or telling glints. Several times he thought he had spotted a creature crawling through the darker shadows, matted grey fur waving and scarred eyes locking on him.

"What _is _that?" Linus just barely heard Simon ask.

He looked, dread making his heart beat fast and fiercely. For a moment, it seemed his heartbeat actually froze, even as it hammered on even faster than before.

Perched like a demonic gargoyle on one of the larger rocks was a beast, one that still walked in his nightmares and occupied his more dreadful memories. Its massive head was puckered with dozens of horns, stuck out of its skull and face without order or purpose. Black hair rustled around its crooked and bulging legs, frozen hard by the cold. One of the monster's mangled limbs had been replaced with what seemed to be the arm of a gunmen, which, Linus knew, was exactly what it was.

Huge yellow eyes, spotted with grotesque black marks turned toward the stagnant Battering Ram. Linus was immobilized in shock, stunned by the stench, and the truly horrible distortion of the creature's body. The beast was just as he remembered: a powerful, wicked, fusion of one demon to the pilfered remains of gunmen, endowed with claws and fangs and vile, gruesome hunger.

"What is it?" Simon whispered again. "A beastmen? Is it even alive?"

"Yes," Linus choked. "We have to leave. There are dozens of these things along the mountain, most of them much larger than this one. They usually hide at the peak. I never thought one would be _here, _so low to the ground."

"It doesn't look like it's awake," Simon noticed. He stared at the monster, frightened at its horror-wracked form, but searching for a sign of life.

"They stare at the sun during the day," Linus told him. "They just _sit_ there, completely still and stare all day long. But at night…and, if you happen to block their view—"

Suddenly an echoing roar erupted from just behind Linus' back. He whirled and saw another one of the beasts clinging to the side of a pillar, its foot-long claws sunken deep into the ice, and its jaw nearly popping loose with the force of its scream. The enormous creature lunged, its forearm alone several times larger than Linus, Simon and the Battering Ram combined.

With a rough jerk, Linus drove the gunmen away, leaning so far forward that his knee nearly touched Simon's back. Their haste was not enough, for the paw of the giant smacked the tail of the gunmen, sending it into a nosedive before Linus could recover. Immediately they shot straight again, dodging around the ice pillars, not knowing truly what direction they were headed.

The sounds of nails grating ice pursued them, as the beast hurtled from the side of one pillar to the next in chase. Even with the speed of The Battering Ram, the monster steadily followed their trail. Linus had no plan of direction, only the awareness to steer around the next obstacle, never slowing and constantly imagining the visage of the creature behind him.

The monster leapt again, launching off a pillar with such force that its massive claws left gaping rents behind in the ice. It managed to soar directly over its prey, crashing into the next pillar before Linus and Simon, and scrambled to turn itself around. The next moment it uncurled from a crouch like a spring, exploding away from the pillar toward The Battering Ram even as Linus threw his weight backwards to stop.

Bowing to his left side, Linus tilted the gunmen sideways and jetted forward to scrape past the monster's underbelly. A great black shadow rolled overhead as the monster flew above them, missing a collision by inches.

The beast slammed into a pillar lower down, once again thrashing around on the slick ice for a grip. It turned and roared at Linus and Simon, even as they flew away in the opposite direction.

As they fled, chunks of ice rained down around them, torn from the surrounding drifts by three more beasts that had joined the hunt. All three monsters attacked at once, and Linus barrel rolled to the side, dodging the falling mass of one of the dreadful creatures, but throwing himself closer to another. Again he switched direction, sweeping The Battering Ram around quickly to point the other way, feeling rancid, steaming breath waft over his back.

He raced on, and the beasts followed, storming through the forest of ice pillars, ripping showers of frozen snow and stone down in their wake.

A wall of snow appeared in their path, tall and blinding as the sun flashed over its vast, white face. Linus made to scale it by driving straight up its side, but just as he was about to crest the top, one of the beast's bodies flew in and crashed into the wall right above his head. Debris showered around him, and in desperation he attempted to swerve, but the distance was too small. The head of The Battering Ram crunched into the monster's shoulder, throwing both beast and mecha sideways.

The gunmen quickly seized control, even though its pilot was incapacitated with dizziness and fear. It twisted until it flew straight again, arching over the snow hill and soaring down the opposite side.

Linus glanced back. The beasts followed them even yet, and may have even been gaining ground.

"Does this thing have any weapons?" Simon shouted.

"Weapons? I- I have no idea!" He strove frantically to remember, and was able to reach memories of Saburo employing an odd arrangement of guns at various times, but he could not recall exactly where the firearms had come from, let alone how to use them. "Uhh, try…pressing the buttons on the deck! See what they do!"

It seemed that Linus' hunch had been correct, for the moment Simon pounded one of the large switches with his hand, the flight deck suddenly flashed brilliantly, once again humming loudly through the winds. Two curved poles flicked out of either of the gunmen's sides, folding up to an angle with Linus' shoulders, and stopping at just the right height for him to grasp the handles on their ends.

With his one hand Linus clasped the grip, wrapping his fingers around the wide trigger under his fingertips. Guided by instinct alone, he squeezed the metal tightly. In response, a clattering of hot red bullets blasted from the barrel under the base, tracing a scarlet line of dashes to the horizon. Linus instantly loosed his hold, frightened and surprised by the power of the bolts.

"You have to turn around and shoot!" Simon called. "Turn around!"

Linus felt fear descend like an icy wash from his head. "You want to fly _at _them? They'll tear us to shreds!"

"We can't outrun them! TURN AROUND AND FIGHT!" Simon rolled his weight sideways, and the flight deck's sensitivity picked up the shift. It turned in a long eastward arch, until Linus could see the multitude of enemies racing behind them. The Battering Ram drove in from the side, targeting one massive beast among the rest.

Too panicked to aim, Linus crushed the trigger in a fist, launching a streak of bullets directly in front of him as he flew. At first the shots passed their target without slowing the monster at all, but soon the searing pellets met with the creature's flesh, all but dismembering the monster in twelve shots. Its cauterized limbs fell to the snow just before its mountainous torso cracked into the ice, still steaming and reeking of burnt hair.

Three more beasts tasted the flaring breath of The Battering Ram and fell, ripped and practically minced into fragments before five minutes had passed. Eight now chased Linus and Simon, and for the time being the beasts held the advantage as their marks slipped back into the maze of ice pillars.

Simon glanced back as Linus blasted through yet another monster, collapsing the pillar it had clung to along with the hideous creature. Suddenly he could not see any more of the beast's following. He scanned the pillars, but found none.

"Where'd they-"

He was cut off as the face of the largest beast he or Linus had yet seen burst up from between two ice mounds. Its head alone was greater than the bodies of any of its fellow , and The Battering Ram mashed against its maw before Linus or Simon even registered what they were seeing.

Jolted, the gunmen tumbled down the ice, clipping a pillar as it fell. Linus screamed as his feet twisted off the flight deck, and he dropped toward the ground, arms waving as if to break off gravity and failing completely. His landing was hard, stealing the breath from his chest and knocking stars into his eyes. Pain like dynamite stormed through his body and he gasped.

Dazed, sipping on air, Linus listened as the shadows of a dozen beasts stripped the cold winter ground around him. There were no growls, no moans. No sounds at all. The monsters stared down from above, waiting.

_They're wondering if we're dead, _he thought. For all their viciousness, Linus knew that these demons never ate anything if its heart no longer pumped.

He sat up, cringing. The Battering Ram had crashed some distance away, and now lay on its side, while the lights on the flight deck still pulsed but were slowly dimming.

Linus could only turn his head a tiny bit, anymore hurt too much. Limited in this way, he could not find Simon anywhere near him. The glare of the snow threatened to scourge his vision, and he had to squint and search through his eyelashes.

Through the silence, a voice growled his name. Old terrors reemerged in his mind like bombs, and he wondered if he were living through hell all over again.

"Linus," the voice said, hissing the words. "Took you're_ thime_, did you? Shame. You're going to _whear_ out your _whelcome_."

Now blackness was crawling in from the edges of his eyes. He was going to pass out. He wanted to, he was so exhausted.

"You're the only one _lheft,"_ the hissing continued. "The _lhast_ course_._"

Soon he couldn't remember who he was, nor where he lay or who was speaking. The blackness seeped in deeper.

"_Thake_ the other boy. We'll let Linus _rhest_ a while." A laugh sounded, though it was discordant, and far too base. "No harm, waiting a little longer."

Linus heard this, but couldn't hold it in his mind, as he closed his eyes and let his head fall onto the snow, yielding to unconsciousness.


	11. Rotten

~~~**** Hi all, I've finally updated. I apologize if the long wait was irritating to any of you, but a combination of internet issues, school, and ordinary lack of motivation have kept me from writing. Yes, it is sad, but you keep reading anyway.

I'm not sure if the ending will take up one or two chapters, and I'm also not sure if I'll be including an epilogue. Lastly, I'm not sure if anybody cares, so I suppose I'll just do whatever. If anyone is interested in finding out about my future projects (and there are a number of them, ha) just send me a PM, that I may respond to. Til then, see ya soon! ****~~~

**

* * *

Chapter Eleven**

**Rotten**

Simon woke up with a throbbing head and the ache of innumerable bruises and cuts punishing his body. He huffed raggedly, suddenly aware of a slimy coldness around him and a chill that drained the heat right off his skin. He sat up, but could see nothing in the darkness. Though he listened hard, only silence returned to him. As far as he could tell, he was alone.

Slowly Simon turned himself around, searching for something to orient himself with. His memory was a cloud, indecipherable and scattered. He found nothing useful around him, and strove to remember where he was.

Digging though his memories caused his head to surge with pain, as if a tempest were pounding out its wrath inside his skull. He remembered a fall. If he concentrated the image of the great sky appeared to him, along with the impression of speed. But nothing showed to tell him where he now lay, or why his bones felt jarred and sore. He supposed the fall had caused his discomfort, and tried again to remember what had happened to him.

Something scraped on the floor nearby. Simon stopped breathing to listen. Though he searched the darkness, he couldn't see anything, and the noise did not come again. He let out his breath and raised his hands to rub his face, but then he realized that iron shackles were gripping his wrists. Large, heavy chains clanked when he moved his arms or legs. They were bolted to a wall just behind him, fastened so tightly to the stone that no human could ever pull them loose, though Simon definitely tried.

"Where am I?" he said helplessly, abandoning his fight with the chains.

Nothing answered, and Simon fearfully brought his knees close to his chest, dragging his bonds up so that he could hug his legs. He did not want to admit that he was terrified, but the chains did frighten him greatly. He wondered where Kamina and the others were, if they knew where he was, or if they were on their way at all. Were they chained in prisons as well?

Suddenly a loud screeching sound ripped through the room. Startled, Simon squashed himself against the cold wall and looked up. A dozen feet away a door he hadn't seen jerked open, and an inhuman figure passed over the threshold. A trail of torn and ragged cloth followed the stranger like a disheveled cape, and a wash of rotten stench preceded it, quickly engulfing the room in a decayed odor.

"_Whelcome_," hissed the figure. "Finished your nap?"

Simon stared at the stranger in disgust. What stood before him was the most horrid beastmen he had ever seen. It was bent over, as if its back had been crushed into a hard angle long ago. Its furless skin was a wretched yellow color, while its shrunken eyes were shaded a ghastly and penetrating red. Worst of all was its smell. A moldy reek radiated from the creature, as if it had lived far too long in its body.

"Who are you?" Simon croaked.

"Nhisis is my _nhame._" The beastmen rolled back its lips to smile. "I _whould_ ask yours, but it is not important. Linus will come_ fhor_ you, yes?"

Simon's gut tightened, and he clenched his jaw firmly. The creature Nhisis possessed enormous fangs, spiked like knives protruding from its gums. Every few moments he would slap his tongue over them, so that they constantly glistened with a film of spit. Simon shuttered. "I-I don't know who-"

"Liar," Nhisis growled, seeming oddly bored with the answer. He curled his long fingers and pointed accusingly at Simon. "You. . .are one of his _fhrinds, _yes? How sad that he _bhrings_ you here, like the others. Perhaps," the monster scowled, "he has forgotten the events of his last visit to my mountain?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he lied again.

Nhisis paused and watched Simon scrupulously. Simon stared back and trembled, afraid that the creature would suddenly leap at him and rip off his arm. He forced himself to breathe, and sat still so that his chains did not rattle and provoke the beast. During this time the beastmen did not move, did not twitch or shift at all. He seemed to have become petrified, but then he moved again, slowly.

"I was careful with Linus," he said. "He _whas _close before, but now. . .now, time has _mhade_ him much better. He has _nhot _been allowed to morn."

Simon's words were glued to his mouth. Nhisis stepped closer, pushing his foul scent ahead of him, and Simon could think of nothing to say or do to protect himself.

The beastmen stopped and licked his teeth again. "Your gunmen _chrashed_, it was run down by my brother. Such useless _thoys_ you humans play with. Your lives are dust, can you not see this?" He shook his head and frowned his rancid face. "The time of my _rhace _has passed, yet I am the remnant. I _whish _only to put things right and to return to happier days. But, _whould_ my loves crumble again? I know they _whill._"

Seemingly lost in his own thoughts Nhisis turned his back and stepped toward the door. "I show you this truth, human. Your darkness festers here, and your trust _brheaks_. Broken bonds then break hearts, and I should feel shame for delighting in it."

Simon could hardly comprehend the words, as they rolled from the maw of a lunatic, washed in a dizzying reek. He wished that Kamina would crash through the far wall with the gunmen, blasting purer light into the forsaken room and saving Simon from this decaying hell. He could almost feel the walls shake as Lagann drilled easily through the stone. He imagined the slaps of insults Kamina would shout, and the fear on Nhisis' face. He pictured himself safe, and not alone with the beast.

But instead of Lagann's drill, Simon only heard the beastmen speak again, hissing around his teeth.

"I have no feelings, human, least of all shame. You are here, _bhecause _to me, broken hearts. . . taste best. Now rest. We _whill_ wait for Linus to come."

He left quickly, dragging the heavy door shut behind him. Instantly total darkness returned, and Simon felt that he was blind. He told himself that at least now he knew what Linus saw in his nightmares.

* * *

When Kamina and Yoko finally found Linus, he was sitting on The Battering Ram alone, staring ahead with an expression bleached of emotion. He'd sent up a flare from his mecha hours ago, hoping they would recognize its meaning and come for him. He hadn't been sure if they'd even seen it, until he spotted the figure of Gurren Lagann tromping over the snow.

The crash had left Linus dazed. He'd struggled to stand up without tipping over to one side, and his legs seemed too sore to hold him up for very long. Flying his gunmen was a disaster, as the crash had disoriented the machine as well as its pilot.

While he'd waited, Linus thought about how he could possibly explain what had happened. Kamina and Yoko still did not know about the monsters Paradise was hiding, and Linus wondered why he'd decided not to tell them for so long. The answer haunted the back of his mind, but he did not dare unearth it now.

He looked up as the large gunmen approached, but he did not try to stand.

"There you are!" Kamina's mechanical voice roared around the rocks. "What the hell have you two been doing? You've been gone for hours you idiots!"

Linus turned his gaze down again, and did not answer.

Yoko appeared from the transport carriage and shouted, "Hey, is this Paradise, Linus? Are we here already?"

When, once again, he gave no reply, she made her way down to the ground and walked up to him.

"You didn't answer me," she said. "Why are you just sitting there?"

Linus swallowed. "I crashed the gunmen."

"What the hell did he just say?" Kamina laughed mockingly. "He _crashed_! What kind of a dumbass crashes a gunmen?"

"Shut up Kamina, you fat mouth!" Yoko screamed back. "You aren't exactly a perfect driver either!"

"Whatever, can we just get going now? Is Simon off taking a piss? I'm not carrying his gunmen up this rock, you know, he has to drive it himself."

Linus closed his eyes and dropped his head into his hand. Yoko blinked at him.

"Where _is_ Simon anyway?" she asked.

No answer came for a very long time. So long in fact, that Linus momentarily forgot what exactly had been asked. A thousand thoughts were ripping through his mind, and it was difficult to focus on just one.

At last, he found his nerve and whispered the dark news. "Simon has been kidnapped," he said, and the wind stopped just at that moment, making every word clear and brutal in the silence.

"What?" Yoko frowned. "Kidnapped by who?"

"The beasts. . ." Linus scowled into the snow. "And Nhisis."

A short pause followed, soon smashed as Kamina belted, "what the HELL are you talking about?"

"Simon and I were chased by beasts, and he was taken when the Battering Ram crashed." It was suddenly easier to say these words, and more came after just as seamlessly. Linus was not thinking about consequences. His thoughts were enticing a storm elsewhere.

"Not beastmen," he told Yoko when she asked. "They're less human than that. Nhisis is their leader, more like they're tormentor, I suppose. They live on the mountain, high up at the summit where it's green still, and stare at the sun until evening. I guess we provoked them by blocking their view as we flew by. . ."

He frowned, piecing together old memories, oblivious to his surroundings.

"How do you know so much about this?" Yoko wanted to know. "And, WHY didn't you mention it before?"

"Nhisis killed Saburo," Linus blurted. The old burning sting was not there, replaced by a numb sheet of indifference. "The beasts killed everyone. And I did warn you, if you remember. You said you could handle it. . ."

For once, Kamina seemed to have nothing to say, even as the accusation was pointed clearly at him. Linus stood up and kicked impatiently at his gunmen, millions of thoughts tumbling through his mind like streams of rain. The Battering Ram blinked lazily awake as he stepped onto the flight deck.

Yoko set her hands on her hips. "Well, now what do we do?"

"We go find Simon," Linus said.

"And annihilate all these beasties while we're at it!" Kamina put in excitedly. "Finally we'll get some action around here, sticking it to some fozen fuzz heads!"

Linus didn't say so, but he was thinking the exact same thing.

* * *

Linus crested the summit long before his companions, and took the opportunity to look around. He didn't see any of the monsters lurking about, and would have cared little if he had. Something callous and blank had formed in his mind, blocking all emotions save for a solid determination.

He eyed the yellow-green moss growing on the face of a lumpy rock, and thought back on his travels from the year passed. He wondered what had changed so suddenly in him while talking with Kamina and Yoko. Now as he thought on his closest friends, he realized that he was ashamed of his behavior since their deaths. He discovered that once he had fled from Paradise the first time, he had not ceased running and hiding behind grief.

Nhisis was the most vivid and horrible memory Linus had of the mountain. The thought of the monster's distorted face had terrified him for so long, but now he only found defiance lurch up when the beast came to mind. Linus knew that Simon had been taken to draw him back to the mountain, so that Nhisis' grotesque plotting could be finalized. Yet, even though he had spent so much time rolling over and playing dead, Linus felt that he had left that sorry image of himself a thousand miles behind. He was done allowing a ghastly beast to control his actions.

At last Kamina and Yoko completed their trek up the mountain. A climb that had taken days on foot was accomplished in less than a few hours with a gunmen, and Linus could not help wondering what employing mechas would have done for his first journey. Maybe more people would have survived. Of course, no one had truly known what they would find in Paradise; there had been no way to fully prepare.

Silently Linus led his small party on, deeper into the arrestingly lush scenery. Stone was gradually submerged with dirt or sand, and tall trees emerged to create a forest on all sides that fully relieved all views of snowy landscape. Paradise truly was all that the people of Cascade imagined, wanted and required.

Once or twice Linus thought he spotted a beast crouching in the leaves of some fern or bush. He still had no terror of them, though he would have warned Kamina if he'd been sure that he'd seen one. Three hours passed as the group stomped on, seemingly to nowhere. Conversation had stopped after the first hour, and the journey continued in rustling silence.

Finally, Linus paused at a small stone landmark. Kamina's gunmen nearly stepped on him, as the man had been occupied in a half conscious snooze for the last leg of the journey.

Stepping off the Battering Ram, Linus ignored his friend's pestering questions and moved toward a drape of vines high overhead. He pushed the trailing plants to the side, revealing a great carved arch leading into an enormous courtyard, like the walled garden of a palace.

Lashing the vines back, he returned to his gunmen and directed Kamina and Yoko inside, then motioned for them to step out onto the grass.

"This is where Nhisis will be expecting me," he explained as they walked over to him. "Once night falls completely, the beasts will gather here."

"How do you know?" Yoko asked, then immediately regretted it, considering the last answer Linus had given to that question.

He didn't seem to mind. "This used to be their palace, I think. Maybe, a long time ago, the beasts used to be like people, with kings and queens and an entire lavish kingdom all their own."

He saw their confused and doubtful expressions, and explained further. "When you see Nhisis, he may make you want to throw up, but he does have a lot to say if you listen. He tormented us for days with his ravings, and it seemed to me that he would like to rebuild a kingdom that he once had. I think he may have been a prince of some kind, and maybe the beasts he controls were like his subjects." He shook his head. "Some evil destroyed everything though. It twisted an entire race into vicious monsters, and I think this mountain is all that is left."

"Well whatever," Kamina grumbled. "If we have to wait, why don't we eat something? You sure this Nicey guy is going to bring Simon with him?"

In place of an answer, Linus told them to wait and be ready for an assult. Then he turned his back and towed his gunmen far away into the courtyard, searching for a particular spot. He sat down alone in a patch of stone that the overgrowth had neglected, and refused to acknowledge any doubts. He was using his time to prepare himself, to wait boldly for the dark.

The night grew colder, even though the fringed winds out in the snow could not reach the courtyard because of the unnatural trees. One hour slipped by, and then another, and still silence remained. Linus sat where he was, unmoving as the trees, still waiting, expecting but not hurrying the encounter.

He wondered if the others had fallen asleep, and wanted to warn them again to be ready, but could not risk wandering back. He hoped mildly that Simon was holding up alright, and redoubled his determination to free his friend.

A slow chill apart from the normal cold stepped up Linus' spine. A new silence fell on the courtyard, and the darkness appeared to shutter with another presence.

"_Bhack _again, dear Linus?"

Nhisis was a darker shadow amidst a curtain of blackness, a still figure standing a few strides away. Far enough to be unassuming yet close enough to still be dangerous. Looking up, Linus made out a handful of more bulbous shapes in the canopy above, and saw that a number of the beasts were gripping the high wall surrounding the courtyard. They had somehow surrounded him without attracting his notice.

Of course, he had expected this. No one from the last journey had seen the monsters coming at night, though everyone had known they would be hunting.

"I'm back," Linus mumbled tonelessly. "Where's Simon?"

For a second, Nhisis hesitated, as if he had seen something unexpected. Then he gestured far to his right, and behind him Simon's pale form was pushed forth from the shade. He was not bound, with both hands and feet untied, but that was only because such heavy bindings were an encumbrance to his captors. Should Simon attempt to run, the beasts would tear into him before he took three steps.

Linus sighed, oddly disinterested in spite of the situation. He was glad for this bewildering calm, as it was clearly making Nhisis uncomfortable that his long-awaited prey did not fear him.

"Trade?" Linus said. Nhisis nodded silently, frowning his disgusting face in uneasy puzzlement. Apparently this was not the scene he had imagined.

Stiffly, Linus stood and shed his jacket to indicate that he was not hiding a weapon under the folds of his coat. His armless shoulder was bared as a reminder to everyone present, and it seemed to please Nhisis to see it.

Leaving his gunmen untouched, Linus stepped forward toward the center of the yard. Across from him, Nhisis grabbed the back of Simon's neck and shuffled up until only a single stride separated him and Linus.

No one spoke, though a nasty grin had emerged on Nhisis' face. Simon stood awkwardly between them, eyes darting from his friend to his captor, waiting to see what they would say or do.

Linus quickly passed his eyes over Simon, and saw that his only injuries were pinkish chafe marks on his wrists. "You had him chained up?"

"_Chouldn't_ have him running, _chould_ I?"

"You would have found him right away."

The monster shrugged. "We _chouldn't_ find you."

Linus found himself bored with the line of conversation. Nhisis had never seen so disgusting to him, and he felt a surge of pity for the fallen creature. What had he been once, what had happened for him to degenerate this profoundly?

"Simon, start walking please," Linus said.

Simon's face blanched suddenly, and he glanced uncertainly into the dark. "What are you going to do?"

Linus cast him a sharp look. "Don't worry, they won't follow you."

"You'll. . .meet up with me, right?"

"Not likely," Nhisis laughed. "I don't _rheally_ like to share."

"What are you going to do to him?" Simon demanded, a little impulsively.

As an answer, Nhisis faced Linus and opened his fanged mouth freakishly wide. A blood red, pointed tongue flapped behind rows of shark-like teeth, leading down a frightening throat, dripping with spit and rancid mucus. Behind him, the dozens of beasts bared their teeth and hissed like a rotten wind.

Simon stared, horrified at the vicious and nauseating maws of the beasts, but beside him Linus was unaffected.

"You know," he said as the noise softened, "you were all so much more terrifying in my dreams."

Nhisis snapped his teeth shut. "You have forgotten what we are capable of! You have forgotten what my fangs felt like, tearing off your arm!"

Linus shook his head. "I have only forgotten why I decided to hide for so long. And maybe you have forgotten how fast I can run."

In the second it took Nhisis to process this statement, Linus had twisted around, grabbed Simon and darted toward the Battering Ram. Instantly the other beasts jumped at him all at once, but before they could all scramble over each other to attack, he had already stepped onto the flight deck.

Light burst from the gunmen, fiery orange and blazing in the dark. The monsters were stunned by it, even Nhisis, as the same fascination with light that drew their eyes to the sun every day immediately engrossed their attention.

Linus stomped on a single switch, and the handles of one of the guns snapped up where he could grip them. He shot bullets into the stampede of beasts, destroying several and blasting others into those behind them. He'd lost sight of Nhisis in the rush, but did not take the time to worry about him.

Instead he pulled Simon onto the deck behind him, and roughly flew the Battering Ram into the trees. The beasts followed him as he fled over the wall of the courtyard, crashing through the trees and tearing over the ground. Linus could react just fast enough to dodge branches or large rocks, and did not slow down or look back until he and Simon were flying so high over the ground that the beasts could not attack them.

He paused to collect himself in the frigid silence, looking down at the vast forest and watching the trees. A few branches rustled briefly, but then everything was still. The beasts had given up the chase.

Simon gulped, panting heavily and staring around with wide eyes. "I guess we made it? We lost them?"

Linus shook his head, breathless. Now that he was up high, back where he felt safe, he had finally begun to shake.


	12. Fight Forever, Never Come Unglued

**~~~****** Hi everyone, sorry for the long wait. This chapter is a bit longer than the others (I think) but that's because I'm trying to pack as much into it as I can. Seeing how this is **PART ONE OF THE FINALE**, I couldn't help making it long. Hope no one minds. I have no idea when **PART TWO** will be ready, so just be patient. You could always encourage me to hurry up (hint, hint).

Also, someone was so kind as to request an epilogue, so true to my word I will include one. Thank you. Please enjoy this chapter, and I'll see ya soon. ******~~~**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

**Fight Forever, Never Come Unglued**

"_One shot."_

_Linus blinked, sweat like icy fingers slipping down his neck. Raising his eyes, he looked at Saburo resting next to him, hiding for the time being behind a boulder. Pale, his bold navy jacket ripped and glossy in places with blood, his visage was a perfect reflection of the battle for Paradise. For all his wounds, a light of determination shone in his eyes, lit by a fire that would not die even now. In his hand he gripped a single handgun, geometric in design much like the gun-arms the beasts had. Its straight lines were scuffed, the handle worn where Saburo held it with four fingers. The fifth finger had been crushed, and would probably never be usable again._

"_What did you say?" Linus said hoarsely. _

_Saburo indicated the gun with a minor tilt of his wrist. "This is the last weapon I took off the Battering Ram after the crash. It's only got one shot left."_

_His words belied all the weariness his face would not show. His tone, though he tried his hardest to lift it, reminded Linus how limited even Saburo's human strength was._

"_Where's Tomiko?"_

_Saburo gave no reply and that was enough. Linus slowly dropped his head onto his knees, trembling as he imagined his friend torn to death by the beast's claws. It was hardly an exaggeration. Everyone else had died that way. For a moment neither of them said anything, resolving just to breathe and wait for the grief to smash through the numbness. Linus wondered if this blow would be the last he could take. At least he hadn't been there to see her die._

"_I guess Tomiko finally got what she wanted," Linus blurted without thinking._

_Now Saburo's reaction was sharp, and when he faced Linus the look in his eyes was raw as an open wound. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"_

"_You know what it means."_

"_What do you want me to say?" Saburo growled, apparently understanding. Anger flickered behind his blood-drained face, so easily roused these days. There was frustration there, grief and disappointment, tempered with deep sadness. The soreness of the subject was the reason why Linus never tried to bring it up. But by now wasn't it far too late to care? "Was it any of your business anyway?"Saburo's normally soft eyes were stormy, angry in a way that was strange for him._

"_You lied to me about her," Linus went on, not backing down for the first time. "You told everyone that she was just fine, but she wasn't. I saw what she tried to do when she stole the gun from your bag. She was going to kill herself with it, and then she shot at you when you tried to stop her." Linus chewed his lip, expecting tears. He had cried over the scene before, but now he was just tired of thinking about it. "That stupid lie you made up convinced everyone else, but we all suspected something. I've seen it in your eyes this whole time!"_

"_Well damn it Linus!" He stood up quickly, ignoring the patch of redness he left on the ground where he had been sitting. He wavered, wincing and holding his side. Recovering his breath, he went on, suddenly softer. "Tomiko had some really bad memories, alright? That's what happens when your family is whipped out by beastmen. You say you could see in my eyes, why didn't you look at hers?"_

"_I did! I was waiting for you to do something to help her!" Linus stayed where he was, afraid his legs would fail if he tried to stand. "Why did you act like nothing was wrong?"_

_There had been dozens of times when Linus had wanted to strike Sabruo for his callousness. Tomiko had said things, done things to show how lonely she was, and all it would take was a word to help her. But Saburo never did it, at least not when Linus was watching. It was upsetting to see Saburo ignore someone in need. Linus realized that there was a darker side to his friend, an indifferent and cold side that threatened the trust they had as friends. It seemed sometimes that Linus was looking in the eyes of a stranger._

If only he had said something, _Linus thought miserably. _He could have saved her. What's the matter with him?

_Saburo's shoulder fell back against the stone wall. He stared at Linus, thinking or warring with himself before he answered. "That's your problem, bud. You're always waiting for me."_

_Linus didn't understand. "Waiting? I've been trying to keep up with you from the beginning. You have these dreams, Saburo, but you're the only one with the ability to chase them. The rest of us-"_

"_Knock it off would you?" He sharply kicked Linus, though his expression was kinder than his foot. "You're so smart, but you still can't see how much you could make of yourself. Where's your faith, huh? When will you finally wake up and see that nobody in this whole damn world can hold you down?"_

"_You always say that."_

"_Well it's not for nothing, damn it!" Saburo almost laughed. "Why don't you listen to me sometime, kid? When you have a goal, you can't wait for other people, else it'll all fall to bits before you even get off the ground. If you saw Tomiko hurting, you should have helped her yourself, not waited 'til the end for me to do it."_

_Linus was out of replies, and he stared bleakly at his feet. There was no way he could say that Tomiko had made him nervous, and that was why he never talked to her. Some part of him wondered if Saburo already knew. Lately it was like they were fighting with each other, but it was never clear what exactly the fight was about. _

"_You know it's not over," Saburo continued. "We can still take Paradise."_

"_You're crazy. Everyone's dead."_

"_I'm not. You're not." He held up the hand gun, letting sunlight flash off the scratched metal. "And I've still got one shot left."_

_Pulling deeper into himself, Linus refused to acknowledge Saburo's optimism. He listened as his adopted guardian, his only friend, the idol he had always looked to, shuffled back to his side and crouched down. _

"_Maybe I should have done more to help Tomiko," Saburo said. "But it was like talking to a wall. You and her both. No matter what I say to lift you two idiots up, you sink back down again like you've got cinder blocks tied to your feet." He shook his shaggy head, sighing. "All I needed was more time. I never gave up on her, or on you. It was just that time got the better of us. It was too late."_

_Linus returned Saburo's gaze, comforted and content just to sit side by side. It made Linus ache for the old days when the two of them could stroll through town, when the only thing on either of their minds was the next prank or the next meal. Back when adventure was just a dream._

"_So promise me, Linus," he went on. "No matter what happens, promise you won't let yourself become like Tomiko was. Never come unglued, fight forever if you have to, but don't let yourself go down like that." _

"_Everybody has to die, Saburo."_

"_Then make it a show stopper, right? Let this whole world know that LINUS is not through, that he's just going higher and farther than anyone else, and even the heavens will be excited for you." He shrugged. "I'd like to see that. In fact, I'll be waiting to see it, with the best seat in the house."_

_Linus frowned, lost once again in Saburo's lofty metaphors. "What are you saying?"_

"_Don't make me explain it!" he chuckled and nudged Linus sideways. "Listen, kid. If we take out that fuzz lump Nhisis, I'm betting that those beastie brothers and sisters of his will go down real fast. Come on, if we find him together I can put this last shot right where it belongs in his melted brain."_

_Saburo had to use the wall to stand again, and he seemed to struggle much more than last time to push himself up. The red spot on the ground was even larger than before, and it glistened like a ruby pool at his feet. _

"_He's close by," Saburo said. "This won't take long."_

_The determined assurance had returned, and for a moment Linus thought he could believe in that determination again. He forced himself to stand, quieting his shaking knees by will power alone. "Nhisis is always close, isn't he?"_

"_Yeah well, most of the time he's shouting his crazy-ass stories so loud that we can hear him a mile away!" _

_Linus grinned. Could nothing intimidate Saburo?_

_They began to walk into the bushes, Saburo leading with his handgun ready and Linus right behind. All around the mountain was quiet, and even the wind held back its icy breath. A silent moment passed, and then the blast of a single gunshot slashed through the calm, echoing even out on the fringed plains of ice._

* * *

Parting the ferns in his way, Linus floated The Battering Ram over the ground toward a shaded place under the thick canopy. Kamina and Yoko waited exactly where he had left them, unnoticed by anything except for a few persistent bugs.

"Simon!" Yoko cried. "Are you alright? What happened to you?"

Linus turned to Kamina, uninterested in a happy reunion. "You didn't see any beasts did you? Nothing strange happened while I was gone?"

"Well…" Kamina started.

"He fell asleep," Yoko accused sharply. "But nothing bothered us. How did you get Simon back?"

"Stole him, how else?" Linus skimmed the trees but found no sign of the beasts in the branches. He had become fairly good at seeing them, even when they hid, because their hunting patterns were always the same. It was odd that none of the monsters were around. Had they really not found this place yet?

"Linus, do you think those creatures are going to find us?" Simon asked, as if reading his friends very thoughts.

"It bothers me that they haven't already," he answered. "Why would they be avoiding this place?"

"Don't you think we should take a second to come up with a plan?" Yoko suggested. "We may not have another chance before the fighting starts."

"Alright." Linus nodded.

"This time don't keep your lousy secrets to yourself, got it?" Kamina shouted. "What exactly are we up against here? Spill your guts kid, come on!"

"We're facing a colony of powerful, demonic beasts led by a creature named Nhisis." Linus explained. "They are vulnerable in the day time because they are attracted to sunlight, and at night any bright light will confuse them. The beasts are pretty stupid, but they are extremely fast and vicious. You'll see that all of them have replaced limbs or most of their bodies with pieces of destroyed gunmen, which just makes them all the more dangerous .Nhisis is the real trouble though, because he's the leader."

"Nhisis huh?" Kamina crossed his arms and considered Linus' description. "Sounds like he'd give us a pretty good fight! Isn't he the one who kidnapped Simon?"

"Yes." Linus cast his friend an apologetic look. "I doubt that Nhisis planned to hurt Simon at all. The kidnapping was more of a ploy to draw me back to the mountain."

"What's he want you for?" Yoko wondered. "Just to kill the last survivor huh?"

Linus shook his head no. "Nhisis wants to eat me."

Everyone paused awkwardly, allowing the declaration to sit in the air between them. Kamina was the first to speak.

"Eat you? Are you serious? What kind of demented freak is this guy anyway?"

"He ate my arm," Linus reminded them. "When I was here before, all Nhisis would talk about was tormenting the innocents so that they would taste better. I think that the beasts eat each other too, and that's why they have to replace their arms and legs with gunmen parts."

Yoko cringed. "That's just disgusting! I swear that if any of those monsters tries to bite off so much as a toe I'll blast them into pieces!"

"I wouldn't worry about the beasts so much," Linus said. "The best way to win here is to go right to the source and kill Nhisis. Without him, I think the other beasts will go down easy."

"But how are we supposed to get to him?" asked Simon cautiously. "We're completely outnumbered."

Linus grinned, stepping proudly onto the deck of The Battering Ram. "Never let their numbers intimidate you, Simon. If numbers were enough to win every battle we wouldn't even need gunmen."

"But, it's-"

"Listen!" Linus jumped in, cutting even Kamina off. "Don't give these freaks the victory before we've even fought! I've been doing that ever since I ran from Paradise the first time, and look what it got me. A town full of sad people who blame me for all their sorrow, just because I let them. That's not the kind of life anybody wants to live." His grin widened, and his single hand curled into a poised fist. "And I won't live it! Never again. You guys have shown me what Saburo meant all along, that if I want something all there's left to do is go get it. Not even an army of these beasts can stop us, even if all we have is one last shot."

Looking around him, Linus saw his confident smirk stuck on Yoko and Simon's faces. He turned as Kamina suddenly burst out laughing.

"You stole the words right out of my mouth, kid," he said loudly. "That's the kind of fighting spirit we need to turn this mountain around in the name of Team Gurren! When we're through, everyone's gonna know that even the mightiest beasts in Paradise couldn't stand against us!"

Linus nodded, an electrifying tension building in his gut and flowing out to his entire body. Tapping a switch on the flight deck, two drawers slid out from the left and right flanks, displaying a collection of firearms. Four spots of the racks were empty, lost when Saburo had salvaged them a year ago. Linus reached down and took two handguns from the racks, sliding them into the waistband of his trousers. He knew that finally he was ready to face Nhisis' challenge, to rise fully out of his grief and never acknowledge it again.

* * *

Sunlight crept into the starry night, unhurriedly turning the morning shades of rose and melon. Like a milk white eye the sun lifted above the mountains, casting beams through the sparse clouds onto the plains. High atop the mountain, hulking shapes like rocks tottered onto the sun bleached rocks. Their fangs glistened as they tilted their heads up, staring at the sky until those behind pushed them father out.

All gathered together, the number of beasts blanketed the large rocky plateau, and some of them had been pushed to tables of stone below the peak. As the sun rose higher, the monsters locked their eyes on its blazing radiance and became statue-like, watching without flinching or shifting at all.

All was quiet, only the sound of the cold wind howling through the rocks could be heard. The beasts sat like a congregation, worshiping a pure light that they could see but never truly feel. Lost in blackened memoires, the monsters watched in absolute silence for nearly two hours. But then a bark went up from the horde of fur and fangs, an angry, distressed cry.

A speck had appeared on the face of the sun, a blemish on its great yellow face. With gathering speed, the dot grew, larger and larger, like a falling stone. Soon many more of the beasts were hollering their discontent that their view had been disrupted. Their collective cries became a roar of ascending rage. Meanwhile the spot became larger, intercepting the light, and then its shadow was coating the center of the group.

Seconds later, Lagann smashed drill first into the deepest mass of beasts, scattering rocks and bodies high into the air. The mecha drilled straight through the ground, escaping the retaliating claws and teeth slashing around it.

Steering from inside, Simon shouted his victory over the com-link. Instantly a screen displaying Linus' face appeared by his shoulder.

"We're not through yet!" he cheered. "Give 'em round two!"

Above ground the beasts swarmed the hole the gunmen had punched into their mountain. Clawing over each other and viciously snapping their jaws, none of them felt or heard Simon returning until Lagann burst like a rocket from under their feet. Splinters and wedges of stone exploded around him, piercing the monsters or crashing on top of them as he flew into the open air.

Half a dozen beasts leaped up after him. Gravity quickly wrapped its hands around the gunmen, and began to pull it down toward their talons and teeth.

"Linus!" Simon cried, seized by sudden fear.

As if on cue, The Battering Ram rushed from the trees below the plateau, raced up and slammed into Lagann from behind. Jolted, Simon twisted around and gripped the sides of Linus' flying mecha, and the gunmen flew them both straight into the sky.

"Now! We have to get to the peak!" Linus screamed through his mouth-piece. "Yoko! Be ready to jump!"

"I'm ready!" she returned.

Linus circled the mountain, feeling the brief strain as his gunmen compensated for Lagann's abrupt weight. Behind him he could hear the boom of the screaming beasts. So far, none had followed them.

Suddenly Linus steered back into the forest, dodging branches and trunks as best he could, even with Simon's bulk impeding his maneuverability. Not even thirty yards into the brush, he cut into a sharp turn.

"DROP, SIMON!" Linus ordered.

Obediently Simon released his grip on the Battering Ram, and plunged through the canopy. But he did not crash into the ground, for Gurren was positioned directly below him, and his drill sank into place on the large gunmen's head with a practiced flash.

"Right on target, kid," Kamina lauded. "Lagann's combining perfectly. And you were pretty stylish about it too, just the way it should be!"

Linus nodded, rolling his gunmen back around and dipping into the trees. "That first assault will draw Nhisis out. We can find him at the peak if we hurry, before he goes down to the plateau with the others."

"Aright!" Kamina hooted. "First one to find that creepy fuzball wins! Team Kamina versus Team Linus!"

"It's not a race, Kamina!" Yoko berated him.

Linus grinned bleakly. "It doesn't matter who finds him first. Just blast his drooling head off and the mountain is ours!"

Emerging from the trees, Linus swiftly guided the Battering Ram into the clearing where Gurren Lagann stood. Yoko waited on the mecha's back, her rifle ready on her shoulder. Linus swept by her and she jumped nimbly from one mecha to the other, landing cleanly on the flight deck just behind its pilot.

"Come on!" she called. "Let's go get 'em!"

Together the small brigade drove forward, gliding or stomping through the trees until the forest became only rock and snow. Almost right away the two gunmen were spotted by the beasts waiting on the rocks, and attacks came from several directions at once.

Linus and Yoko both fired their weapons, knocking the jumping beasts away with loud, blazing gunfire. Kamina shouted gleefully as the beasts jumped on him, swinging their gunmen arms or kicking with odd gunmen legs, and batted the smaller ones away like toys.

Flying high over the swarm, Yoko and Linus picked off clumps of beasts from above. As he squeezed the trigger, Linus scanned the higher rocks for Nhisis, hoping that the leader of the monsters was still up at the top of the mountain, alone and vulnerable.

Hurrying, but maintaining careful awareness, Linus bolted through the air, picking off any monster that so much as roared at him. He thought, in some idle part of his raging mind, that the battle seemed almost poetic, possibly graceful, as he dipped and swerved around the mountain. It had been an easy dicission to attack just after dawn, when all the beasts were together. Now only the most agile monsters could scramble away from the herd to attack, only to be shot down by The Battering Ram's aerial assault.

From the corner of his eye Linus saw a particularly huge beast sailing dangerously close to his gunmen. He abruptly dipped and rolled, upsetting Yoko's aim. The beast flew past them, and she reposted, and shot directly at it. For a single heartbeat as the bullet drove into the monster's chest creature, gunmen and riders all floated in breathless suspension. Linus feared a fall or crash as they rolled upside down, his long bangs drifting before his eyes and blinding him. And then the force of the shot blew the beast backward, and The Battering Ram breezed easily back over the rocks.

"Nice flying there," Yoko said.

"Nice shooting," he replied lamely, flushed and somewhat dizzy.

All of a sudden another beast rose up directly in front of the gunmen. Instinctually, Linus crushed the trigger in his fist and pounded a dozen radiating bullets into his target. They charged right through the remains of the creature, unable to turn away from it, and chunks of blood, fur and metal pelted the curved windshield.

Turning again, Linus gasped as two more beasts flew up to block his path. Surprised, he wavered and could not fire. But then the nose of Yoko's rifle swung around by his side, and four bright bullets erupted from the muzzle and tore the monsters to pieces.

"Are you alright?" she called, cold wind twisting her long hair behind her.

"Yeah, but. . ." Linus blinked, bewildered, ". . .I don't understand. How are they getting up this high?"

Then from below came the bellowing cry, "Head's up Blondie!"

Linus glanced down just in time to see Kamina grab two beasts off the rocks and toss them like toy balls up into the air, right toward The Battering Ram. Yoko insistently shot the helpless monsters as they flew up into her range, and reloaded her rifle with a grunt.

"Kamina, what do you think you're doing!" She shouted, not without humor.

"Just a game of hot potato!" he laughed. "What? Not too much for you is it?"

The beasts were smart enough to avoid Gurren Lagann's arms by now, so Kamina and Simon settled for flat out melee attacks on their numerous foes. Linus swooped down to circle around them, aiding in the extermination with blazing bullets from his own gunmen.

The team fought continuously, and mowed down dozens of beasts in a matter of moments, but somehow the creatures seemed to multiply and surround them again. Even Linus was stunned by the unexpected force of Nhisis' army.

But then, suddenly the number of beasts dwindled until less than a third of their number remained to fight. Rather than feel relief, Linus was overcome with a sense of foreboding at the change.

"Ha! Running out of bodies are you fuzballs?" Kamina shouted.

"They're retreating," said Yoko. She stuffed more bullets into her rifle as Linus drifted over the sundered battleground.

But Simon was the one to voice Linus' suspicion. "Not retreating," he whispered. "They're regrouping!"

As if his words were a signal to charge, the moment Simon spoke an enormous mass rose up over both gunmen. The sound of a hundred furious screaming beasts was the first to meet them. And then like a wave of screeching maws and gnashing fangs, the full number of beasts launched from the ground and attacked. The sheer number of them was like a solid wall falling down on the plateau.

Linus knew the attack would be devastating, but a counter attack also burst into his mind. He whipped The Battering Ram around and darted toward Gurren Lagann.

"Simon, Kamina listen!" he commanded. "Jump! As high as you can! JUMP!"

"What?" Simon cried. "Jump where?"

"JUMP NOW!"

To his relief Kamina obeyed without argument. Gurren Lagann leaped straight into the sky, higher than Linus expected any gunmen to be able to jump. He followed his friends closely, watching their assent and clutching the trigger in anticipation. Before them the beasts were still rising up, a flood of monsters charging to meet two much smaller gunmen head on. But somehow Kamina and Simon had managed to vault higher than the wave of beasts, and hovered briefly above them for a split second.

That was the moment Linus was looking for, and as the gunmen started to fall he circled his own mecha around its body, squeezing the trigger and creating a spiral of bullets around it like a tunnel. Catching on, Kamina and Simon joined the barrage by shooting small drills from their arms down at the beasts below. The monsters fell in droves, killed off before they could even reach their target.

Just as they were about to collide with the ground, Gurren Lagann shot out its leg, leading the fiery fall with a solid foot.

"Take this, FUZZ BRAINS!" Kaimia hollered. "Blazing! Spiral! Tornado! KICK!"

Gunmen met the ground, and an explosion ruptured the side of the mountain. Fire and energy blazed so bright that all sight was blinded, and the boom of the impact echoed out onto the snow all the way to the mountains miles away.

Linus was blind from light and smoke, and he decided to fly his mecha high to escape the fire. Yoko had her head ducked below the windshield, hugging her rifle as ashes and flaming lumps of rock pelted them from every side.

"Nice going Linus!" she praised him, though he could hardly hear her for the ringing in his ears. "That attack probably took out all the beasts at once!"

He was about to answer her, when out of the blackness of the smoke he saw a figure barreling toward his left side. He twisted to deflect the attack but the beast was coming too fast, and its heavy body crashed directly into him, tearing his feet from the flight deck and hurtling him into open air.

"Linus!" Yoko called. The Battering Ram continued to fly even without its pilot, and disappeared into the smog.

For a brief moment Linus tumbled swiftly down, but then he hit stone and rolled to a painful stop on a rocky ledge. Dazed, he groaned and lay still a moment, wondering what had just happened to him. He lifted his head and came face to face with a bloody pair of fangs. Pressing down on Linus' prone body was Nhisis, claws and teeth dripping spit and blood, and eyes red with fury.

"Can't _rhun_ away this time, Linus," he hissed. "About time I _ghot_ my meal, don't you think?"


	13. The Widow Mercy

_This is the first half of the last part of the story. Enjoy, and please let me know of any typos or inconsistencies that I'm far to exhausted to look for right now. Bla. _

* * *

**Chapter**

**The Widow Mercy**

Nhisis's breath was hot like fire, and stank like sulfur as it blasted in Linus's face. Squirming under the beast's extreme weight, Linus fought vainly to wiggle free.

"What a _ghrand_ little show you've _phut_ on for me," Nhisis hissed. "Can't say I've been this entertained since the _lhast_ time you were here."

Linus winced as a glob of bloody drool slapped onto his cheek. "You can't pretend you didn't know this was coming," he wheezed. "Why play around so much? You could have had your precious 'meal' and a thousand more if you'd come to Cascade!"

"No _fhun_ in that, Linus." The monster stooped his grizzly head, nudging his knife-edged fangs inches from Linus' neck. "I'm not much for visiting, you know."

"Kamina is going to flatten you," he said fiercely. "Simon and Yoko will be sure every one of your rotten beasts burn to ashes!"

Nhisis reared up and laughed, opening his viperous mouth wide. The sound was grainy, painful to hear, but Linus could not free even his one hand to cover his ears. "_Fhlatten_ me you say? The way your last companions did? I did not take you _fhor_ one who forgot so easily. Do their lost souls _sthill_ haunt you, do they _fhill_ your nightmares?"

Linus said nothing, but the expression that twitched across his face was as good as an outright confession. Fury bursting inside him, Linus steeled his face and heaved against Nhisis' body. For a second he was able to lift himself up, only to be crushed back down to the stone, his head bouncing sharply as he fell.

"A valiant fight. But, put your head down. You're done now," Nhisis said, dipping his head again.

Just when the beast thrust his fangs forward to rip into bared skin, Linus took advantage of the shift and pressed his feet flat into the ground, shoving his hips upwards with all his strength. With a yelp, Nhisis toppled headlong toward the stone, rolling sideways just in time to save himself. Clutching Linus by his shoulders they both rolled to the side, but this time Linus managed to keep himself on top.

Swiftly he reached behind him and grasped one of the handguns he'd stuck into his waistband, shoving the nozzle hard at Nhisis' nose.

The beast glared at him, motionless and radiating hatred like a stench. "How clever _hov _you. Little Linus carries a weapon now?"

"Quiet," Linus commanded. "Or I'll blast your ugly face off."

Nhisis paused momentarily, but then his body began to shake with laughter, growing inside his chest until he was roaring the earsplitting sound like a siren. Linus steadied the gun, willing his hand not to shake.

"What's so funny?"

"You!" cried Nhisis breathlessly. "You act so sincere!"

"That's because I mean it! I'm going to kill you!"

Calming down, Nhisis shook his head, suddenly wearing a grave face. "No, that is impossible. You have no _rheason_ to."

Linus bristled wrathfully, gritting his teeth and screaming in his mind to just pull the trigger. The sparkling look in Nhisis' eyes was making him dizzy, driving him crazy.

"No reason," he exclaimed. "You murdered dozens of people from my home, people with families and friends. You just tore them apart without even thinking about it, like they were yesterday's trash! _My_ father, _my_ friends died because of you!"

"You cannot blame me for my own nature," Nhisis said. "To be monstrous is the only existence I know."

"That's no excuse. How can you just accept being a monster?"

This time neither of them spoke for several moments. Nhisis looked upward with distant eyes, focused on something ethereal and beyond common sight. Linus clenched his jaw, his finger trembling against the trigger.

"A monster does _nhot_ acknowledge Mercy," Nhisis murmured. "She is a widow, watching from the tower and weeping. Why do you hide behind her tattered skirts?"

"What are you talking about?" Linus demanded coldly. "What do you even know about mercy? You killed everyone who came to this mountain looking for a better life. You slaughtered so many people, and you act like it wasn't your fault?"

Nhisis smiled, his teeth sparkling. "_Whell_ that brings us to the heart of the problem. Who does Mercy cry for? The one that loses all and suffers, or the one that takes all and suffers nothing? I would hazard a guess and say that she cries _fhor_ us both."

Linus scowled fiercely, gripping the gun tightly. "If I kill you now, I guess that'll be one less person for her to worry about."

"Now, now, _dhon't_ be so quick to _phass _blame. How do you know all that death was my fault? I could not possibly have killed everyone, in fact, I did not."

"If not you, then your beasts. You're their leader," Linus growled. Inside him his emotions were tumbling over and over like giant waves, crushing him downward as he tried to focus. Mixed in with the surges of rage was a familiar, but piercing sorrow. It threatened to stir up dreadful memories, unearthing the waterfall of grief that crushed what sanity Linus could sustain. He didn't want to go back to the dark roads of madness, now that he was outside of them. Hiding from pain was no life for him anymore.

Nhisis watched Linus's face carefully, as if trying to decode the messages it expressed. "You believe that it is possible to control even one of my brothers?" he said. "You of all _pheople _ should know that it is impossible."

"But," Linus breathed, "I _know_ that you killed Saburo." He stumbled over the name, then forced himself to be single-minded. "You can't deny that you murdered him. I was there, I saw you jump on him right before you attacked me."

Nhisis shook his head, scrunching up his eyes cheerfully. "As I recall, your friend was already wounded gravely when we met. There is no telling which of my brothers injured him, but perhaps that was the real cause of his death." The beast shrugged his ragged shoulders. "Dear Saburo's passing was not my doing. I did nothing more than throw him aside."

"No!" Linus cried. "I remember, you jumped from the trees, and both of you fell on the ground. Saburo . . . he was bleeding like a damn river and the . . . ground was. . ." he sucked in a quaking breath, ". . .he didn't get up. He died, and you were the one who killed him!"

A wicked smile flourished on Nhisis' bloody face. "Yet you wonder, what if he didn't die when we fell? What if he died many, many hours later? Already I have said that I did not kill him, I only knocked him down."

Linus fought not to shut his eyes, to block out Nhisis and his wide, horrendous grin. He had never thought that Saburo had lived even a moment after he fell on the ground. The impact of Nhisis falling on him must have crushed his body fatally. If he had still been alive, he would have shouted something, or tried to stand up again. Saburo would not have lain on the ground.

But, what if his back had been broken? What if his throat was so full of blood that he couldn't speak? What Linus dared not consider was that Saburo could very well have lived. But for how long? How many hours would Saburo have fought, before he finally blacked out in a puddle of his own blood?

"You remember running away," Nhisis said softly. "You remember fleeing as fast as you could."

"O-only because you had tried to rip my arm off my body!" Linus defended. His entire arm was shaking now, and he could feel a sick tension warping his stomach. "You're trying to fool me. Those other beasts would have attacked Saburo even if you didn't. He died, right away."

"But not before you abandoned him."

"No!" Linus screamed. "I didn't! If I knew I would have stayed with him no matter what! But he was dead! He WAS dead!"

"Well, you wouldn't know would you?"

Howling violently Linus straightened his arm and squeezed the trigger on his handgun. Nhisis twisted underneath him, throwing Linus off like a feather pillow. They rolled apart, the handgun firing but the bullet cracking uselessly against the ground.

Hastily Linus got to his feet, searching the small ledge for his enemy. No matter where he looked, it seemed Nhisis had disappeared. Clutching the gun tightly, Linus hunted desperately with his eyes and ears for any movement or sound.

"Nhisis!" he cried. "Come back here and face me! You truly are a coward, hiding from a child!"

Just as he spoke the last word, Linus sensed something falling toward him from behind. He whirled and raised the gun, blasting off three bullets before he even knew what he was firing at. Nhisis dropped from the sky, pelted by only one bullet as he thumped on the ground and dashed sideways. The next moment he was charging at Linus like a bull, fangs and claws leading the attack.

Linus dodged, but Nhisis scrambled up the cliff wall and launched himself again. This time there was only a hair-width of space between Lunis' chest and a pointed claw as he stumbled out of the way. Nhisis continued his attacks, each time coming closer to tearing into his target. Soon Linus was gasping in gulps of air, sweating while his heart pounded at a frantic pace.

"Still quick as always," Nhisis hissed. He slashed his claws almost playfully, teasing Linus with their menace. "But not quick enough to escape that guilt, hm? Not fast enough to outrun the ghosts!"

Breathless, Linus scrambled to the opposite side of the ledge. He only just remembered that he still held the gun in his hand, and he aimed it at Nhisis' stalking form. Even if he could find the nerve to fire again, his aim would be wrecked by his unsteady arm.

"Lost all your confidence? Don't worry, I always wanted you that way." Nhisis laughed again. "Fear is a much better flavor!"

Like lighting Nhisis raced toward Linus, claws whistling through the air as they cut down. Linus tried to duck away, but he hesitated just a moment too long and the talon scraped viciously across the back of his skull.

Blind to the pain for only a heartbeat, he toppled onto one knee as his balance was thrown forward. Just as Linus found his feet again, Nhisis barreled into him, fangs punching through skin as the beast bit deep into his shoulder.

Linus shrieked, his muscles tearing and his bones bending. Nhisis' weight drove him backwards to the solid cliff wall, and pressed his back against the jagged stone.

Dizzy with pain and terror, Linus could barely stand on his feet. He realized suddenly that he had dropped the handgun, and all he could do was slap uselessly at the beast's burly head, struggling to be free of the burning in his skin. No matter how he moved the fangs gripped him like a vice, and intense ripples of agony rolled all through his body, pinpointing on his mutilated shoulder.

Nhisis pressed forward harder, sank his teeth in deeper. Linus saw black spots fill his eyes, and he could not squeeze a wisp of breath into his lungs. His head felt like a swollen ball, ready to explode. Something behind him was jabbing into his spine, sharply prodding him like a spear tip.

All at once Linus realized what the pain behind him was caused by. The second gun that he had stowed against his back was still there, digging into his flesh as if it were trying to remind him that he had it. Gasping, he weaved his hand around behind him, groping for the gun handle. For several excruciating moments he could not reach it, and when he finally clasped his fingers around the weapon he struggled to pull it free. Nhisis was pressing Linus so hard against the rock wall; there was no space to wrench out the gun.

Linus was ready to give up. The gun would not come free, and what good would it do against a beast of this size, of this resolve and cruelty.

_I deserve this, though. _Linus thought. _I should have died along with everyone else. At least I would have been among friends, instead of here, alone._

"Just. . .make it quick," he whispered, and relaxed his body against the stone.

"What the HELL is going on here!"

Someone shouted so loud that Linus was jerked from his misery, his eyes jumping open. The voice was thrown around the rocks, bouncing back and forth, but the speaker was still yelling at the top of his lungs. The loudest voice Linus had ever heard bellowed his name, sounding like a giant, drawing his wavering gaze up to the head of the cliff.

Deep shadows obscured the figure's face, but Linus knew its shape so well that he recognized it instantly. The authoritative voice hollered on, while the blazing sun flashed on glossy sapphire hair. Altogether it was a vision of confidence, a signal for determination. Linus was overwhelmed to see him, and joy skipped through his veins.

"Saburo," he called, swallowing the pain constricting his throat. "Saburo, it's you!"

* * *

Kamina was having too much fun.

Disgusting beasts lunged at his gunmen, but with satisfying whacks and sweeps he sent them spiraling into the air, or buried them under an avalanche of boulders and rocks. Somewhere in the heart of the battle he'd forgotten how to form coherent words, and substituted them with eccentric hooting that trumpeted from Gurren like a war song. Long ago Simon had separated Lagann to pursue his own conflicts along the cliff, but also to escape Kamina's borderline madman behavior.

Eventually all the beasts on the surrounding rocks had been flung far away or blasted into cinders. With a riotous laugh Kamina marched up the mountain side, searching for more targets. At times it seemed that the flow of enemies would never end, but then moments later all the monsters would disappear, only to retaliate with greater numbers.

As he scaled the cliff, Kamina smashed off boulders and collected them in the mechanical arms of his gunmen. This time when the monsters returned, Kamina was waiting for them on a high ledge, the pile of boulders stacked carefully in front of him.

Within minutes the tide of beasts surged back over the rocks. Seeing their mutated heads, Kamina whistled a cheerful tune and clutched the nearest chunk of rock. He watched their confused charge happily, wondering at the stupidity and crudeness of beasts.

"Dumbass fuzz brains," he chuckled darkly. The boulder bounced in his gunmen's hand as he tossed it up and down, searching out the prefect beastly head to fling it toward. One monster in particular was snapping and biting at his fellows, and the wild spin of its eyes made it look absolutely terrifying. Kamina usually chose the more frightening enemies to attack, because he thought they deserved it the most. Maybe too he wanted to prove that even the steepest challenges didn't frighten him, though sometimes he questioned who he was trying to prove it to.

Who, exactly, was it that he kept his chin up for? It used to be that he didn't know, nobody important enough came to mind.

His dad maybe, before he had breached the surface world. Now he thought it was Simon, mostly. The twerp spent so much time worrying that he couldn't feel passion for anything unless he got a solid kick in the backside. Yet who could blame him, with times the way they were. Kamina shook his head, his grin sliding off into a lopsided glower.

Someday he was going to a place where nobody had doubts, and all anybody thought about was what to do for fun and who they could bring along with them. Kamina would be there, even if he had to build the whole damn place with his own hands. That would be worth fighting an army of beasts every day for the rest of his life. It would be worth keeping his confidence when the weight of a thousand hopeful people threatened to crush him down.

But for now, there was a mountain to conquer, and a particular beast that needed a rock smashed into its head. Kamina hefted the boulder up, his grin reappearing as he took aim. The mechanical arm arched back, and then began to launch.

Suddenly Yoko's face appeared, huge and flustered, on the screen. She yelled Kamina's name like a banshee, startling him so that he nearly dropped the boulder on his own foot.

"What's the big idea?" he screeched back.

"Kamina! Something just knocked Linus off his gunmen. I think he's MIA."

"MI- wha? You mean you're flying his gunmen yourself?"

Yoko's face burned red, her equally fiery hair snapping around her face. "Of course you idiot! We have to find him."

"Sure do, or else you'll probably crash that thing like he did." He chuckled lightheartedly.

"How can you laugh!" Yoko cried. "Linus could be hurt!"

Kamina stood his gunmen up and set its foot on the side of his boulder collection. All the screaming has cost him his advantage; the beasts had seen his hiding place and were scrambling up the cliff face to reach him. With a flourished kick he shoved two dozen boulders down the cliff, where they tumbled into the racing beasts below, squashing most of the force.

"Alright," Kamina murmured. "Let's split up and look for the little idiot. He can't be all that hard to find."

In fact, Linus turned out to be extremely difficult to find. According to Yoko's frantic instructions, Linus had fallen somewhere near the summit. But the higher up the mountain Kamina climbed, the shallower the ridges became, until his giant gunmen was slipping off every ledge he set its foot on. He tried simply jumping and grabbing the side of the mountain, but he only crashed back down again.

Simon was faring much better, since his gunmen was smaller, and it had the advantage of flight. But he was as anxious as Yoko, and both of them were seriously annoying Kamina with their endless fussing.

"Would you two shut up?" he finally snapped. "For crying out loud, it's not like the kid can't take care of himself for three minutes. Lighten up already!"

"How can you say that?" Simon whined. "This place is crawling with beats, and that freak Nhisis is out there too. Linus could be dead by now!"

Frustration boiled under Kamina skin. Couldn't _anybody_ see the way he did? Why was everyone trudging through gloom like they were slogging in a swamp, heads down and eyes and ears shut? Where was their faith? Why did they let their confidence be crushed so effortlessly? Didn't they know, some battles were meant to be fought alone.

By the stars, Kamina didn't think he could stand to hear someone tell him to settle down, or hurry up, quiet down, or give up again. Not without blowing his top off, at least.

Overcome with aggravation, Kamina punched the screen that displayed his friend's faces. Unable to decipher the way to turn off the com-links permanently, and realizing that he wasn't going any higher in his clumsy gunmen, Kamina threw open the hatch and leapt outside.

Though it was not completely silent outside the gunmen (the rumble of roaring beats and rapid gunfire bounced across the rocks) at least the chain of desperate screaming was broken. Swooping his tattered, yet still glorious, cape around his shoulders, Kamina procured his katana from the cock pit and strolled calmly away. When he reached the base of the first bluff, he jumped up and immediately began scaling the rock. He rather enjoyed climbing, and the chance to work his arms and legs. Eventually he lost track of how far he'd gone, and looked back only to realize that Gurren was little more than a thumbnail sized spot far below.

So close to the summit the view was breathtaking, a sight that truly made Kamina appreciate entering the surface world. He took a moment to contemplate trees, and grass, things he'd not had the time to fully notice until now. Most of all he was wrapped in an almost supernatural calm. Picking up the tune he had whistled earlier, he sauntered through the gorgeous brush, unsure of any exact path, oblivious to any sort of objective.

At the base of the next cliff, Kamina heard a noisy scraping sound somewhere to his left. Moments later there came a series of fearful growls and grunts, and then an agonized scream shrieked through the quiet forest.

With a distasteful frown, Kamina followed the noises. He rounded a particularly pointed outcropping, and came into view of a ledge some twenty feet away. The battle sounds continued, but apparently the fighters were huddled against the far wall, out of view. What he could see was a splatter of blood splashed on the rocks, still wet and bright in the sunlight.

Kamina made several disapproving _tsking_ sounds, and turned to scale the cliff to his right. At the top he walked along a precarious sliver of ground, until he could look down on the ledge he had seen from below. He leaned over and followed the blood trail to the spot against the wall. Some sort of ragged, bloody, garbage spawned creature hunched close to the wall, grumbling like a territorial dog over its only bone.

Kamina unsheathed his katana and tilted his head to hear the beast better. If he wasn't mistaken, it sounded like it was talking.

Frowning, Kamina pointed the sword down toward the beast and bellowed, "What the hell is going on here?"

Suddenly a pale face twisted away from the beast and looked up at him. Linus blinked the trail of blood from his eyes, a wild grin splitting his face.

"Saburo! Saburo it's you!"

Ignoring him, Kamina redoubled the volume of his voice. "I said what the hell are you doing? Don't you know this is my mountain now!"

The beast moved then, shuffled back a few steps, dragging Linus with it. It jerked bloody fangs from its prisoner's shoulder and lifted its gruesome face. Kamina met the monster's stare with an icy grin.

"Your mountain?" sneered the beast. "Is that what you said?"

"Huh, you must be the talking freak. You the leader around here?"

"Nhisis," the monster introduced himself stonily. "I'm afraid you do _nhot_ resemble Saburo quiet as much as poor sun-stroked Linus believes. Who are you?"

"Heh." Kamina opened his mouth to lunch into one of his famous introductions, but his speech was cut off by an explosion of gun fire. Three shots came off one after the other, and Nhisis lurched forward as each blast drove into his back.

Hissing venomously, he rounded on Linus and smacked him roughly to the side. Linus fell, twisting to protect his wounded shoulder, but still clutching tightly the handgun. He stumbled to his feet again as Nhisis moved toward him, and struck out with his foot at the beast's head.

"Weren't you listening? This _isn't _your mountain anymore," he grunted.

Nhisis laughed throatily. "Then, _phlease_ tell me, whose is it? _Nhot_ yours, you stupid little fool! You'll bleed to death on this ledge before you can conquer Paradise. You'll die just like all of your beloved, crushed and mangled friends."

Kamina watched serenely from his perch atop the cliff. Even from the distance he could clearly see a new determination emerging on Linus' ashen face. With a glance over his shoulder, he said, "No, it's not his mountain."

"Not mine alone," Linus added. He grimaced, but a laugh still rippled from his mouth. "You nearly had me there. Can't believe I was about to give up. But now that Saburo's here, you don't stand a chance anymore."

For the first time since entering the conversation Kamina noticed that a strange name was being tossed around. He searched the rocks expectantly, but only counted himself, Linus and the smelly old creature on the ledge.

"Who's Saburo?" he asked bluntly.

Linus looked at him, his smile flickering. Across the ledge Nhisis began to cackle loudly.

"This isn't the time to joke around," Linus said.

"I'm not joking," said Kamina. "Who's Saburo?"

"Well…" for a brief moment Linus seemed to focus, the force himself toward clarity. But by the next blink the look had disappeared. "You're Saburo, of course."

Once again, a brutally honest comment hurried to Kamina's lips. Yet the look of confusion on the blood smeared face of the fragile boy below him froze the words in his mouth. For once he'd seen the confidence he'd been asking for. There was a staunchly devoted soul, a spirit of faith, albeit a spirit twisted by delusion and pain, but abiding all the same.

He sucked in a proud breath, let it go, and then jumped down to the ledge. His bright red cape snapped as the wind tossed it furiously around his shoulders, and when he stood to face Nhisis his smile had nearly tripled in size.

The beast glared back at him, viciously laughing to himself. "What a mistake. What a _whreck_ you are, boy."

"He's no wreck, and it's no mistake you stupid beast," Kamina countered darkly. "I'm Sabruo. Just who the hell did you _think_ I was?"


	14. Shine Through The Stars

**Yes. This is the end. Save for the epilogue, there will be NO MORE CHAPTERS! thanks to everyone (especially Zaru) for sticking with me this far. I hope you all enjoyed the ride.** Stick around for a final installment, and a look at the final illustration, which I'll post on my profile with the epilogue. Thank you again, and I'll see ya soon.

*please excuse any typos or inconsistencies. I'm posting late at night, and these chapters have kind of drained my creative mojo. Let me know if you see any outstanding problems. Thanks.*

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Shine Through The Stars**

The moment Nhisis turned his gaze Linus charged at him, determined to bring the beast down with whatever weapons he could use. His arsenal was limited without his gunmen- a half dozen bullets between the two hand guns, and his own fist, feet and teeth were all he had. Still Nhisis seemed stunned when the little body latched on to his back, one arm looped tightly around his neck.

"Filth!" he hissed, slamming his back into the wall.

Linus yelped, but held on through two more thumps before his grip broke and he slipped to the ground. His lungs felt withered and weak, but he forced himself to stand up again, ready for another assault.

But he found that Nhisis was locked in a ferocious battle with the only other person on the ledge- the person Linus saw as Saburo. There was no way to explain how the assertive young man had appeared, or why there was no hint of a scar or mark on his skin. Linus disregarded these questions easily and without concern. He saw what he saw, and what more proof did he need.

Kamina slashed and cut with his sword, trying to break through the barrier of claws that Nhisis maintained.

They battled back and forth, trading swipes, jabs and feints, though neither one could gain an advantage. Seeing Nhsis' back turned again, Linus ran forward and jumped onto his back. Releasing a bestial howl Nhisis spun and whipped the boy from his body.

With brutal force Linus was launched into open air, and not for the first time he found himself falling helplessly toward the ground. Yet this time he plunged only a few feet before he was plastered quite rudely onto the face of a bright red gunmen.

His nose aching from the collision, Linus pulled his face back and heard a voice shout a cheerful hooray.

"Found them! Right where you said they'd be!" called Simon from inside Lagann. "Are you alright, Linus?"

Stunned and confused, Linus could not answer with anything besides a brief nod. Aside from that, he was slowly losing his grip on the mecha's face and about to enter another fall. The ground was flying away from his feet rapidly, and when he looked up all he could see was the dark underside of some other machine. It seemed the Simon was holding on tightly to the bottom of the Battering Ram, allowing it to carry him through the sky.

Suddenly Yoko's head jumped into view above. Her skin was pale, and her eyes wide with fright.

"LINUS!" she hollered. "Get up here and fly this thing! I can barely keep my feet on the deck!"

"You'd better hurry," Simon added. "She's already rammed it into a few boulders already. Wouldn't want it to fall apart completely."

Nodding silently, Linus crawled up Lagann's face and took Yoko's hand when she offered to haul him up. She spoke to him as if they were already acquainted, which seemed very odd to Linus, because he only felt a flutter of recognition toward her.

"Tomiko," he guessed, since she most resembled his friend, "you look a little different. Did you grow your hair out?"

Yoko stared blankly at him, uncomprehending, but then she yelped and pointed her finger over his shoulder. Linus turned and saw that his gunmen was soaring directly at the side of the mountain, and was only yards away from a deadly collision.

Acting swiftly and automatically, Linus shoved his way onto the flight deck and whipped his gunmen around on the spot. Grinding his teeth against gravity, he flew it the opposite way. Simon gave a cry as he was smashed into the sides of the cockpit, but his gunmen's grip held firm and he didn't fall.

With Yoko gripping his un-wounded shoulder, Linus guided his mecha at top speed back toward the ledge, determined to find the man he thought was Saburo. His mind was flushed with dread as much as adrenaline, knowing that even with several bullets stuck in his hide, Nhisis would not be defeated easily.

"Slow down!" the girl behind him cried into his ear. "I can barely see!"

He ignored her and sped on, searching frantically. Within moments Linus could see the ledge, but he was horrified to find it empty. There was no sign of Nhisis or Saburo, but only splatters of blood around the rocks.

A loud voice called from below them: "Catch him! He's gonna get away!"

Linus' eyes flew to the cliff wall, and there he saw two figures scrambling up the sheer face. One was spider like and crawled as fast as if he were simply running on flat ground. Meanwhile his pursuer lagged below, hurrying but unable to match Nhisis' speed.

Despite his desire to check on Saburo, Linus turned his attention toward their enemy. Cutting through the air, he was able to fly right next to Nhisis, and they exchanged vicious glares as Linus tried to ram the beast with the side of his gunmen. Nhisis swerved around an outcropping of rock, but Linus followed him like a shadow.

The jerking movements of the gunmen made it difficult for Yoko to aim, and she was reluctant to waste any bullets shooting at stone. Simon, too, was having difficulty holding on to the Battering Ram as its stubby feet scraped the cliff. Both of them shouted directions to Linus, but he seemed unable, or unwilling to hear them, all of his mind and body focused on ramming Nhisis into midair.

All at once Nhisis took the offensive and pushed away from the rock, rocketing into the metal side of the Battering Ram. The mecha jolted and turned sideways, only to bounce off the rock again. Forced into a spiral and slammed more than once against the cliff, the Battering Ram nearly lost both its pilot and passengers. Even as Simon lost his grip with one hand, Yoko was thrown from the deck and tumbled into thin air. But once again Linus was oblivious to anyone besides Nhisis. Simon hastily dropped away from his friend's gunmen and chased after Yoko. She had an immense head start already, but with the aid of jet thrusters Simon was able to catch up. He grabbed her foot and stopped her fall just before she would have hit the ground, saving her from shattering her skull.

Setting Yoko down gently, Simon turned Lagann to look back up the hundred feet they had fallen. Linus and Nhisis were little more than specks high above, but Kamina was much closer. They could make out the shock of blue hair and swirling tattoos even from a distance. He seemed to have paused in his climb to look back at them.

"Is it just me, or did Linus act a little…" Simon began haltingly.

"Crazy?" Yoko finished. Her voice was sharp and harsh. "He's completely lost his mind! He wouldn't even listen to us, and he called me the wrong name!"

From the way she said it, Simon suspected that the mistaken name was more offensive to her than being ignored.

"He wants to get Nhisis bad," Simon said.

"Well of course, but he never chose chasing after the beast over keeping his friends safe! He's acting just like Kamina!"

Simon didn't believe that Kamina cared more about fighting than his friends, but decided not to press the issue. Yoko, he guessed, was probably just in shock. Instead he tried to explain Linus' reckless behavior. "Something happened after he fell off the Battering Ram. Something's changed."

Yoko's eyes softened visibly. "Do you think…Nhisis did something?"

"Linus is acting the way he did in the hospital," Simon reminded her. "He couldn't even see us then. It looks like he's gone back in time inside his head, like he's fighting for the mountain alongside his old friends."

An expression of sadness spread over Yoko's face, and she seemed to bite back another complaint. "So, he's back the way he was when we met him."

Simon nodded, stuck by the same lament Yoko was feeling. Maybe it had been foolish to assume that the gladness Linus felt while lucid was permanent. He had already fallen back into a darker state of mind, despite their efforts to help draw him out of his past. It seemed those horrible memories and the weight of his guilt would haunt Linus forever, always lurking, waiting to pull him under when his resolve broke.

"What if we can't help him again?" Yoko asked.

Simon said nothing. He didn't have an answer; that was his own fear.

"But maybe you were right, Simon," Yoko went on.

He blushed, stunned and pleased by the compliment. "About what?"

"That you and Linus are really alike." She made a face, adding, "But I still think what you said about the three of us being exactly the same as Linus' friends was too farfetched. It just…" she paused again, looking back up the mountain, "From what we were told, I thought that Paradise would be impossible to conquer, but we've nearly done it with only three gunmen. I'll bet Kamina could have done it by himself."

"I don't really understand what you mean," Simon said. "What does that have to do with-"

"It's got something to do with everything!" Yoko said quickly. "Linus told me that by the time he and his friends got to the mountain, there were problems with disloyalty. Their friendships were breaking."

Simon vaguely remembered sitting in the prison cell when Nhisis had captured him, and that the beast had growled something about the mountain festering darkness and breaking trust. When he'd heard those words he hadn't understood them. His mind had been overwhelmed by fear. Now though, Yoko's words gave new light to what Nhisis had said.

"You were right Simon, that all of us could become like Linus and his friends," said Yoko solemnly. "If we lack unity, we won't be able to conquer even a toothpick mountain in the middle of a wasteland."

A smile flickered across Simon's face. "I guess that was the real beast, not Nhisis and his useless monsters. Saburo and the others were destroyed by their own doubt and disorder."

Yoko shrugged. "Well, if you ask me even the beastmen are a bit scarier than that."

Once again Simon held his tongue. As someone who was well acquainted with doubt, he could not disagree with her more. Just when their conversation seemed to have reached its end, Kamina caught up to them.

"What are you two just standing around for?" he bellowed. "This isn't the time to take a break! We have to catch that big ugly one before he gets away."

"What about the other beasts?" Yoko asked. "We need to clear them out too."

Kamina frowned, obviously conflicted. He was feeling guilty for abandoning his gunmen, and the itch to smash a few more beastly heads was starting to bite at his mind.

"Look bro," Simon said as sternly as he dared, "I'm going to follow Linus. You should help Yoko out okay? She shouldn't stay by herself on the ground."

Relived, Kamina grinned and smacked the back of Lagann. "Sounds like a plan to me! Don't take too long, got it?"

"Right." Simon turned and hastily launched into the air, bouncing easily up the rocks with his compact gunmen. Only after he had gone up a few dozen feet did he stop to look back for his friends. They were already gone. Simon searched himself, but was glad to find no fear within his heart or mind. Even though his friends were off to fight different battles, he was content in the knowledge that his friends kept him far away from Linus' fate.

* * *

Linus felt like his mind was on fire, and like his body had turned to cement. Nhisis was gaining a greater and greater lead, and soon he would escape entirely. But Linus had never felt so much determination; he would jump from his gunmen before he let the beast get away.

There were only two bullets left in his handgun. Three had stuck in the thick skin of Nhisis' back, and one he had shot at the beast only moments ago, but had completely missed its target.

Two shots left. It was clear to Linus that only a bullet right up the monster's nose would kill him. His hide was too thick to be harmed by anything less.

Leaning forward deeply, Linus pushed the Battering Ram to fly faster. It was unbelievable that Nhisis could scurry up the mountain so fast, but it was likely that the beast knew thousands of shortcuts or tunnels that wove through the rocks. Often Linus would lose sight of his target as he dove into a small hole, but there was so little space here at the summit that Nhisis was never hard to find again, moments later.

What Linus truly could not understand was what the beast was after. What was he running to? Why didn't he simply hide inside a cave where Linus could only follow him on foot? Surely he realized that Linus was much more dangerous when piloting the gunmen.

With a quick shove, Linus tucked the handgun back into his waistband, and stepped on a switch at the top of the flight deck. The double handles of the gunmen's cannon instantly snapped up from the sides, though regrettably Linus could only control one trigger. He made the most of it all the same, squeezing out a line of flaming bullets that peppered the mountain side like raindrops. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Linus noticed that the bullets filed out slower than usual, and their blaze was not as bright. The Battering Ram could not fly on much longer. Its power reserve was not infinite, but it would have to survive until the beast was killed. Once again, Linus aimed for his enemy's head, hoping that this shot would be the last. He was flying so fast now; the wind was pulling tears from his eyes and burning his face. He closed his fingers around the trigger, his heart pounding louder than the scream of the wind.

Nhisis growled loudly and charged back and forth to dodge the assault, but he was not moving as quickly as before.

He was becoming tired. Linus saw his chance, and pressed forward for a better shot.

The target was in line, and Linus was so close behind Nhisis that he could smell the yard long trail of stench he left behind. Hope flared in his chest. In haste he squeezed the trigger and showered red bullets toward Nhisis, but only half a dozen shots managed to fire.

Linus didn't see the extension of rock until a second after he swirled around the cliff. With blazing speed he crashed headlong in to the ledge, his gunmen ripped out from under him and his body thrown harshly to into grit. The tearing screech of metal ripping against stone filled his ringing ears, but moments later he pitched like a stone skipping on water over the rock, only sliding to a stop after several agonizing yards.

Now Linus felt like both his mind and body were on fire. He shuddered repeatedly as he tried to push himself up. His hand was scraped raw, and his arm and knees were already oozing puddles of blood. He could taste the salt and sweat in his mouth, but all he could hear was a terrible howl of laughter from above.

It was either the gods, or Nhisis taunting him. Linus didn't know, and decided that it didn't matter either way. He forced himself to stand, blood streaked legs quaking.

With shaking steps he tottered to his gunmen. It lay on its side, looking ruined, ripped and smashed. Both of the triggers were bent or broken off completely, and all of the switches looked shattered. Obviously this was one crash too many.

"Saburo won't be happy about this," Linus mumbled to himself.

Hopefully, he righted the gunmen and placed his foot on the deck. The light flickered weakly, sputtered, but did not go out. Unfortunately, the gunmen could barely respond when he urged it to take off.

Over and over, he tried to raise the Battering Ram up, sure that once it gained a few feet it would be able to fly. All he needed was a lift, and he contemplated throwing himself and the mecha off the ledge just to get tit moving again.

Nhisis was getting away, he was racing toward whatever he hid at the top of the mountain. A weapon, probably, a way to retaliate and destroy his enemies all at once. Linus was ready to scream with frustration.

"You look whipped," said a mechanical voice.

Linus jumped and whirled around. The short red gunmen stood behind him, looking achingly familiar, and raised a hand to wave.

"What?"

The gunmen laughed. Inside, Simon was disturbed to see Linus in such a fragmented state, with nearly as much blood outside as inside. He wanted this battle ended soon, before Linus lost even more than his sanity.

"Let me give you a hand," Simon offered. "If we hurry, I'll bet you can still catch him."

Linus hesitated, but then he nodded. A drop of mingled sweat and blood dribbled from his chin as he stepped onto the sputtering flight deck, only half sure of what the stranger was going to do.

Simon guided Lagann to his friend's side, looking up meanwhile for Nhisis. He saw the summit, and expected that the beast would be there, or very close, and decided to aim for that. He reached down an gripped the battered sides of the gunmen and then heaved it up off the ground. Linus wavered slightly, but the deck seemed able to hold him down at least.

"I'm going to launch you toward the top," Simon explained. "You might want to hold on to something. I'll be right behind you."

Linus nodded again, his face paler than ever. He stared back at the gunmen, as if he could see through the walls to the boy inside, his eyes fierce but his expression otherwise unreadable. He took a sharp breath and raised his head.

"Uh…Thanks," he said. "Thanks for. . .you saved me."

Simon wasn't sure what to say. "Well, the idea was actually to catch you on the flight deck. I didn't mean for you to smash into my gunmen like that but I guess it did the trick all the same."

Linus looked confused, and Simon realized that obviously hadn't been talking about the same situation. But Linus didn't say anymore, instead turning his back so that he would be ready to be launched.

Simon took in a breath, and then began to spin his gunmen around in a tight circle, still holding onto the sides of the Battering Ram. Within seconds the two mechas were whirling as fast as any of Lagann's drills, becoming a bright red and silver tornado. Linus made no sounds, apparently held fast to the fight deck. All at once Simon released the Battering Ram and it rocketed into the air, soaring at a breakneck speed straight up the mountainside.

Linus was still attached to the deck, though he was struggling to stay upright. The light below his feet still flickered, shuttering more frequently even as the gunmen struggled to fly again.

As soon as he saw his friend take off, Simon once again began to jump up the rocks, determined to follow. Just as he reached the next ridge, he saw Nhisis. He also saw that Linus had spotted him too.

The Battering Ram only had seconds of life left, and Linus was still too far away to get a good shot at Nhisis. The beast was struggling to clamber over the remaining distance to the summit, and Linus quickly covered the many yards between them. All at once the light below the deck sputtered, and went out, signaling that all the life had left the mecha. Gravity snagged its claws around Linus and the Battering Ram and began to haul it toward the ground.

Linus yelled in frustration. Nhisis was so close, too close to lose now. He reached around and grabbed his handgun, reading the next shot. With precious seconds left, he ran forward across the deck, leapt over the broken switches and set his foot on the grinning face at the very front, and then dove out into the open air. Briefly the sensation of falling surged through him like ice water, but then he collided with the wall inches from Nhisis, and scrambled to point the gun at his head before he fell back.

Nhisis could barely scream for panting. His face was wild, his eyes freakishly wide and fearful. Linus stuck the gun between his eyes, but the beast grabbed his hand away just as the bullet fired. Determined, Linus swung forward and captured Nhisis' torso with his legs. The impact threw them both backward, and even Nhisis' sharpened claws could not hold onto the cliff.

Below them Simon cried out in shock. Linus and Nhisis tumbled out into air together, thrown away from the summit, and then they vanished from sight within heartbeats. He raced toward them but stopped, stunned, when the echo of one last gunshot cracked around the silent mountain. Moments later came the crunch as the Battering Ram smashed into ice at the feet of Paradise.

The frozen air sliced over the rocks, and even inside his gunmen, Simon could feel the cold.


	15. Epilogue

WOW, this is the end. The very last update for this story. Thank you to all readers and reviewers. You have helped me so much to finish this story. I sincerely hope that you all enjoyed the story, or at least that you weren't disappointed. If you could be so kind, please stop over at my profile for the link to the** last illustration**. It'll be filed under "Cry Mercy Cry".

Also, unless anyone here particularly likes Avatar: TLA and wants to read that fanfiction too, this will be the last you hear from me on this site! I enjoyed posting here, but I have other projects to work on. If you want to know what they are, or if you want me to look at your fanfiction, just send me a message. I may or may not read and review, but I'll do my best. Thanks again! :D

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**Epilogue**

A golden blanket of sunlight bathed the streets of Cascade, warming even the iciest corners. Simon stood at the edge of town, waiting next to his gunmen for Kamina and Yoko to finish gathering provisions. The slope of the hill ahead blocked his view of the horizon, but in his mind he could see the hourglass shaped mountain, a lonely tower set against the rising sun.

Yoko strode up the hill and appeared next to him.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

Simon nodded, but said nothing. Silently he climbed into the cockpit of Lagann, tucked the earpiece into place, and closed the canopy.

A few moments later Kamina came up to his side, hauling a bag of dried food and blankets to store for their journey. He was not alone; Myla followed only a pace behind, looking careworn but simultaneously serene.

She rapped lightly on Lagann's canopy. "You were planning on saying goodbye right?"

Simon fought not to blush as the cockpit opened, instead fashioning a serious face to look at Myla with. "Sorry," he said simply.

"I wanted to thank you," she said. "To think…Paradise is finally ours. The townspeople haven't been so lighthearted since we first broke the surface."

"You'll have to take good care of the place," Simon told her, smiling. "But with all those weapons we found, you shouldn't have too much trouble keeping the beastmen away."

Placidly she bobbed her head in a nod. A long silence stretched between them, and they both watched with seemingly incredible interest as Kamina tossed the bag of supplies into the transport carriage.

Without turning her head, Myla brought up the real reason for approaching Simon. "You think he's still alive, don't you?"

He paused, but then murmured, "Of course."

"Well," she sighed, "I guess we'll find out when we go there. He can't hide forever."

Once again, words fell into silence, and no matter how hard he thought, Simon could not find anything to say. He wasn't sure how he felt about Myla's relaxed attitude, or her short words that suggested she didn't care what had happened on the mountain. But then, when he looked at his own reaction, all he felt was tired.

Departure from the mountain had been solemn. It had taken ceaseless persuasion and threats to convince Simon to turn his back on Paradise and return to the town, one man short. Even as he watched the rocks disappearing into the blinding white distance, a war of hope and sorrow tore at his heart. No one had been able to find Linus, either dead or alive. But there were a few hopeful signs.

Moments after Linus and Nhisis had plunged off the mountain, Simon had chased them all the way to ice slick boulders below. He searched a long while before he finally found the body of Nhisis, stiff and dead with a round hole struck through his skull. The sight was gruesome, and Simon hurried to drill a deep pit to toss the grizzly corpse into. He didn't want to return later to find the body ravaged by the remaining beasts, and he certainly didn't want them to have their leader's carcass for a trophy to spur revenge.

Tensley, Simon remembered turning his attention toward searching the rocks for the second body, but there was a mixed feeling of worry and relief when he spotted a track of footprints in the shallow snow. Drips of blood wove around the prints, but they soon met the cliff and vanished.

Dispite the combined efforts of Yoko and Kamina and Simon, no one was able to locate Linus on the mountain. Simon found the wreckage of the Battering Ram, but let it be until later. When he returned a few hours later, the mecha had disappeared, leaving only shards of metal behind.

Mounting a cliff midway up the mountain, Simon looked out at the snow field and saw something strange. A horde of small black spots danced across the white expanse, like an army marching to battle. A sudden realization hit him as he stared at the figures. They were not soldiers, but the very beasts who had inhabited Paradise only hours before. They were fleeing the mountain in greatly reduced numbers, running now that their leader had been killed. Vaguely Simon wondered where they would go. He could almost see them fitting in well with the beastmen, and hoped silently that he never saw the monsters again.

Kamina scrambled to the absolute summit, and found a series of well-marked tunnels leading into the rock. Out of curiosity he followed one in particular and soon entered a large, chamber-like room, stuffed with treasures. Gold and jewels that meant nothing to his uncultured eyes glittered in the gloomy darkness. Large cannons, swords and guns made piles in the corners, but the only thing to catch his attention was the collection of gunmen parts. Mostly limbs, but a handful of heads, and torsos filled half of the chamber, touch all of them were far too heavy for him to lift.

"So, this is where that slimy fuzz brain was headed," Kamina murmured. "Ha, I guess he really was a king."

The final discovery came to Yoko while she searched for Linus in the lush forest. Walking in no apparent direction she come across a cliff sweeping out of the brush, with a broad view of the mountain and the icy plain beyond. Stuck like a victorious banner into the stone was a dazzling golden pole, and tied to it was a ragged coat with only one sleeve. An odd, flaming symbol was traced into the fabric, apparently with blood, though it was difficult to tell.

"That's Linus' coat," Simon said joyfully. "He dropped it right before he rescued me from Nhisis."

"What is _that_ supposed to be?" Kamina wondered loudly, pointing to the smeared image on the back of the coat.

Yoko turned Simon around and gestured to the flaming skull on his back. "I think it's supposed to be like this, but it's been smudged."

Together they examined the image again, and this time clearly saw the crude shape of a flaming skull between the blurry lines.

Seeing this Kamina smiled proudly and walked away with his arms crossed, his stride distinctly regal.

By sunset, everyone seemed to have reached the same conclusion. If Linus was alive, he was trying very hard not to be found.

Simon wasn't truly sure how to explain all of this to Myla. Even though the flag had obviously been placed by Linus, and he had likely been the one to recover the Battering Ram, there was still no guarantee that he was still alive, days later. Minutes later he was still speechless, and Kamina and Yoko were both ready to leave.

Sighing, Simon said goodbye to Myla, wishing her and all the people of Cascade luck as they prepared to journey to Paradise. Words were all he could offer them, but as he guided his gunmen over the hill he promised to return one day, if only to be sure that the mountain was all it promised to be.

No one spoke as the journey started again, and even Kamina was notably subdued. They had barely walked a few miles before something appeared ahead of them. Two figures walked directly in their path, though they were still too far away to make out.

Yoko stuck her head out of the transport carriage and raised a pair of binoculars to her eyes. Focusing on the strangers ahead, she shouted out in surprise.

"Hey! That's Leeron!" she said.

Kamina and Simon both squinted at the horizon, and as they drew closer to the figures, Leeron's familiar face became easy to make out.

"I thought he was going to meet us ahead," Simon said. "He said he couldn't stand the cold."

"There's someone else with him," Yoko added, lowering the binoculars. "I don't recognize him though."

Simon fixed his gaze on the stranger walking with Leeron, studying his rather odd appearance. His hair was dark and shaggy, whishing in front of his eyes. On his shoulders was a simple grey cloak, but he wore no shirt underneath it. Soon the two were standing at Gurren's feet, waiting for everyone to step out and meet them.

"Leeron, what are you doing here?" Yoko asked cheerfully as she walked around Gurren's massive legs. "I thought you said you would meet us a few miles ahead, where there isn't…how did you put it?"

"Where there isn't wretched, nasty snow and wind," offered Simon.

Leeron giggled. "Aw, you know me so well. But you're right, I had sort of a change of heart." He grabbed the strange man's arm, though Leeron's head only came up to his shoulder. "I met this charmer in the next colony over, just a few miles from here. He said he was headed to Cascade, and it would be so rude of me to let him go alone, you know."

Simon thought he knew much more than what Leeron would say out loud, but kept his mouth shut. The stranger didn't react at all to Leeron's words, but stared at Simon with intensely perceptive eyes. Yoko and Leeron talked on, but Simon wasn't listening. Slowly the strange man switched his gaze to the bright red gunmen, and tilted his head back to look at them.

"Nice mechas," he said softly. Kamina turned to him.

"Yeah you bet they are! See this is Gurren and that's—"

Once again, Simon could not hear their conversation as he stared open-mouthed at the stranger's neck. When the man leaned his head back a vicious scar showed on his skin that was not visible when his chin was down. The pale line tore from his neck diagonally across his chest, surrounded by a dozen other smaller marks. Simon suspected that even more wounds decorated the man's arms and legs, but were hidden by his coat and wooly trousers.

"Right, Simon?"

Simon blinked dumbly and looked up. Both Kamina and the stranger were staring at him expectantly.

"What's the matter with you?" Kamina asked. "Didn't we conquer Paradise, or what?"

"Oh yeah. . . um, w-we killed Nhisis and chased all the beasts away…."

The man frowned momentarily. "Did you?" once again his shining eyes seemed to scrutinize every inch of Simon's face. But then a smile wide enough to rival Kamina's grin broke over his face. "Did you really. About time, I'd say."

From there the entire story of the battles in Cascade and the capturing of Paradise unfolded, told in part by Kamina, Yoko and Simon. Throughout the tale the stranger stood quietly and listened, his expression hardly changing. He would smile lightly when anyone made a joke or when Kamina and Yoko argued over the details. To Simon's surprise, when the retelling ended, Leeron was the only one to ask any questions. The other man simply watched, shifting anxiously side to side as if he were suddenly in a hurry to go somewhere.

At last the man looked up again, pushing a thin-fingered hand through his deep blue hair. "I'm very sorry, but I do need to reach Cascade. You've certainly told me a fantastic story."

"It wasn't _just _a story," grumbled Kamina.

"No," said the man. "My mistake. Please, if you ever return to the mountain, be sure to look for me. I'll be glad to hear of the adventures you are sure to have in the future."

With a polite nod he took a few steps away, as if that were all that needed to be said. Kamina made a disapproving noise, and soon everyone was hurrying to be out of the cold. Simon shut the canopy on Lagann, but paused to look back at the stranger's path. The man was now a good ways away, striding confidently over the snow. Just as he was about to follow his friends, a realization hit Simon that the man was not walking in the direction of Cascade. In fact, he was in route to Paradise.

Just as he was about to call to the man and tell him his mistake, Kamina's voice broke into his earpiece, demanding that Simon catch up. He hurried to Gurren's side, but turned around right away to look for the stranger.

But he was already just a spot in the distance, too far for any words to reach.


End file.
